Why Specialist Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy Is So Important for Every Woman by Ceri from Kegel8
Why Specialist Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy Is So Important for Every Woman
Pelvic Floor Disorders
Big thanks to Ceri from Kegel8 for doing a great guest blog for us.
Hi I’m Ceri and maybe you’ve heard about Kegel8 pelvic floor toning machines. We’ve been pioneering healthy pelvic floors for the last 10 years, and I want to tell you why your pelvic health is so important, and how a Specialist Post Natal & Women’s Health Physiotherapist is vital to getting your pelvic floor working better and we all want that, don’t we.
Most women are unaware of the importance of their pelvic floors until they experience a problem. Unfortunately, incontinence or bladder weakness will happen to 1 in 3 women at some point in their life. So why do these things happen? It’s to do with women’s anatomy. The positioning of the female pelvic floor muscles means that life events like pregnancy, childbirth and menopause can cause weakening. When your pelvic floor gets too weak it stops being able to support your bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum properly. This can cause them to sag, which can lead to incontinence and may eventually lead to a prolapse (when one or more of your pelvic organs sags out of your vagina or rectum). This is not good.
It is estimated that 1:2 women aged 50 years have some form of prolapse – many of these not knowing that the leaks they were experiencing were a sign of worse to come. Wetting yourself even a small bit after exercise is NOT NORMAL .TV programmes such as Embarrassing Bodies often feature surgical procedures and a ‘happy-ever-after’ story, forgetting to add that most pelvic surgery is major surgery, with a high failure rate. Many consultants are sometimes slower to recommend physiotherapy, yet we insiders know if you opt for pelvic surgery the number one thing you need following the surgery is physiotherapy. Whys that? Currently 19% of prolapse surgeries fail - If you do not change what you do, the same problem will happen again... We like to encourage all our clients to get specialist Pelvic Physiotherapy similar to what Fiona, Lisa & Sundeep do at the Birmingham Women’s Health Physiotherapy Clinic.
Birmingham Women’s Health Physiotherapy Clinic : Specialist pioneering Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy Can and will help.
The Specialist pelvic physios in the stunning Barefoot Yoga Studio in Birmingham are different in that they see lots of women from all over the UK and especially the West Midlands, but they also see children with pelvic floor and toileting problems and they are one of the few clinics to see lots of male pelvic floor patients.
In countries like France it’s far more normal for women to see special physiotherapists for their pelvic floor – even if they haven’t yet developed a problem. In the UK, this only tends to happen once things have gotten bad (if at all) and I mean very very bad. There is a lack of physios who specialise in pelvic health in the UK, especially in the private sector, which means that many women are unable to get the help they so desperately need. The team at Barefoot Yoga in Birmingham are also trying to address that as they run internationally recognised training courses for other physios and have world leading physios like Dr Ruth Jones, Dr Holly Herman, Mr Bill Taylor & Maria Elliot delivering world class training for them. Their mission is to get more Physios involved in serving these women.
Why see a Specialist Pelvic Health Physio ?
There are many benefits to seeing a pelvic physiotherapist. The specialist training that these physios undertake means that they are experts in the pelvic floor muscles and will be able to quickly and accurately diagnose what’s going on. A pelvic floor physio can help you to understand how this part of your body works and how best to keep it strong and healthy. Some of the time the Pelvic floor is working too hard and is overactive. Only a specially trained Pelvic Physiotherapist can tell you this. You can’t tell this from just looking at the tummy externally and asking you some questions. Demand better care for yourself and see a specialist.
Pelvic floor weakness is not a normal part of ageing – women are often blasé about the bladder weakness they experience after having children but it’s entirely preventable and treatable. Having access to a pelvic floor physiotherapist empowers women to understand and protect a vital part of their bodies. At Kegel8 we’re so glad that specialist clinics like Birmingham Women’s Health Physiotherapy exists; we hope that many more clinics like it will open in the future! They serve the women of their community and other areas in the UK but are also committed to training other physios also.
Perfecting Your Pelvic Floor Exercises
As specialists in pelvic health, we have a few tips on what you can do at home to enhance the recovery of your pelvic floor muscles. You may have guessed from our name that our focus is Kegels – pelvic floor exercise is a key part of recovering from and preventing pelvic problems. Here are some ways to ensure that you get the most out of your physiotherapy:
- Posture is hugely important when it comes to Kegels, getting your pelvic floor working properly preventing problems like incontinence , prolapse, painful sex & pelvic pain! By sitting up straight during pelvic floor exercise you will massively increase the effectiveness of your exercises. You should also do them in standing. Remember to keep breathing normally and through the tummy.
- Try 10 slow holds x 10 seconds at 50 % of maximum effort and 10 quick ones ( Think Mo Farah for slow and sustained and Usain Bolt for quick and speedy)
- Nutrition will keep your pelvic floor working at its best. In particular, you need to make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D. Vitamin D keeps your muscles strong and healthy, so it’s a vital part of strengthening your pelvic floor.
- You also need enough fibre straining to go to the toilet will strain your pelvic floor muscles! By avoiding constipation via a good diet, you can protect yourself from unnecessary complications. Use a squatty potty also as it really helps bowel function.
- Don’t give up on your kegels! Progress can sometimes be slow but if you keep doing your pelvic floor exercises and working with your physio you will see an improvement in your symptoms. If you’re struggling, then one of our electronic pelvic floor toners will make your kegels over twice as effective.
- If you are overweight, then your physio may have mentioned that this will influence your pelvic floor. 44% of obese women have pelvic problems, compared with 33% of women of a healthy weight. This is due to the excess internal pressure that’s created by extra weight, so creating a healthier lifestyle will help you in your recovery.
- Life is busy but make time for exercise as we know it helps.
Pelvic floor problems are running at epidemic levels, and we urge all women not to ‘pad’ the problem – those pad manufacturers want you for life, and your symptoms will get worse and pads more absobent! A consultation with a specialist Pelvic floor Physiotherapist is an investment in your pelvic health to keep your pelvic floor strong for life.
Demand better care , shout out the message with us that pelvic floor problems are Common but not Normal and demand better care.
Ceri
