Article On Approach to a Strong Pelvic Floor

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The Women to Women approach to a strong pelvic floor

During times of stress and change, your pelvic floor is bearing the weight. Finding ways to strengthen this foundation can help more than just physically; it can help you open yourself to change and grow stronger.

At Women to Women, we encourage women to explore options and find what is best for each unique situation. Kegel provided a piece to this puzzle, but as women, we have collected many ways to strengthen our pelvic floors and our foundations. If you choose to try a new technique, work with an experienced practitioner to ensure best results.

Keep in mind that once you develop severe pelvic floor problems, surgery may ultimately be your best option. In any case, we recommend finding a practitioner who will work with you through all of your options, not just surgery.

Pilates and yoga — These two forms of exercise specifically target the strengthening of your core and can have amazing results with the pelvic floor. Most of us don’t think of strengthening and toning our vaginas like we do our abs or triceps! But, in fact, any exercise that strengthens your core will help you improve pelvic floor strength.

Squatting and perineal massage — If you don’t wish to follow a specific exercise philosophy like Pilates or yoga, or would like additional options, squatting and perineal massage are always great ways to tone and strengthen.

Nutrition — A diet high in protein and low in processed foods will always help develop and maintain muscle tone — even in your vagina! Particularly if you’ve had a perineal tear or episiotomy, lots of protein in your diet will help the pelvic floor muscles and tissues heal more quickly. And because it’s difficult to meet our nutritional needs every day with enough fresh, unprocessed foods, we recommend supplementing your diet with a high-quality nutritional supplement, such as the one we offer in our Personal Program.

A healthy diet can also help you maintain a healthy weight, which will protect your pelvic floor from the ongoing stress of having to support more than it’s designed for.

Smoking cessation — In my experience, women who smoke are much more susceptible to pelvic floor dysfunction than those who don’t. Quitting smoking will maximize your nutrition and prevent the chronic coughing that often ensues, one of the primary triggers for pelvic floor trouble.

Kegels — Though certainly not our only choice, Kegels are still an important option in strengthening the pelvic floor. What many of us don’t realize is that Kegel’s positive research was based on squeezing against resistance. To get the most out of these toning exercises, try using an insertable cone or ball, available through your clinician or the internet, and progressively squeeze the muscles around vagina, urethra, and rectum for 10 seconds, then relax for 10 seconds. (Think of going up and down in an elevator!) Repeat 10–20 times in a row several times a day.

Pelvic physical therapy — Pelvic physical therapy may include external and internal massage, relaxation training, strengthening, and home exercises to increase strength in the pelvic floor. A subspecialty known as internal physical therapy can also be extremely helpful in realigning the pelvic girdle and internal pelvic floor of women with pelvic floor dysfunction.

Biofeedback — With this technique, practitioners use electronic monitors to help you identify and tone specific pelvic floor muscles.

Feldenkrais method and technique — Though there are many differences between these two mind-body methods, they both teach students to become more aware of and adjust their movement and posture to bring greater ease and require less effort. Much of this involves carriage, or spinal alignment, and core awareness, which help speed resolution of inflexibility, pelvic floor weakness and dysfunction. Additionally, the theory is that by teaching a person to improve his or her movement, you can improve that individual’s overall sense of well-being.

Pessaries — Pessaries are removable devices used to support pelvic organs. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes – diaphragm, cube, or donut. Fit by a clinician, a pessary can be worn for weeks at a time and removed by the woman herself or the clinician for cleaning with soap and water.

Constipation prevention and treatment — Preventing constipation simultaneously prevents straining the pelvic floor muscles and can limit injury. Basic constipation prevention includes: eating fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains — thus lots of fiber; avoiding processed foods, including white flour and white sugar; ensuring adequate water intake, and getting regular exercise. If those methods are not enough, magnesium glycinate taken at night before bed can help as well.

Estrogen — Vaginal bioidentical estrogen suppositories, available (in the form of gel, cream or rings) via prescription from your healthcare practitioner, can help maintain the tissue integrity and elasticity of the vagina, as well as reduce bladder and urethra spasm.

Make time to build your core

Pelvic floor function effects almost everything we do. It’s our foundation, and there is so much each of us can do to preserve and restore it. We are not simply limited to the well-known Kegel exercises.

If you take a holistic approach to strengthening your core — exploring your relationship with your pelvic floor on the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels — you will find that there are many ways to maximize your health and keep that hammock strong and flexible for many years to come.Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com.