Until relatively recently, little importance was given to a woman having urine leakage after childbirth or menopause, it was considered normal. Most of us women had not heard of the pelvic floor and many professionals, unfortunately, neither ...
What is the pelvic floor?
It is a set of muscles and ligaments that close the abdominal cavity at the bottom.
If we imagine our abdomen we realize that in front it is closed by the abdominal muscles, from behind by the spinal column, from above by another very powerful muscle, the diaphragm and really the only weak area is the lower part, the pelvic floor.
The pelvic floor muscles are various, but not very powerful. These muscles jump from the sacrum to the pubis. In the case of women, they support our uterus, bladder and rectum, having several vulnerable areas that are the exits of these organs to the outside; the vagina, anus, and urethra.
It is very important that you maintain the proper tension, so that it supports our organs.
If the pelvic floor weakens and loses that tension, the organs it supports descend and its function is impaired. causing incontinence of urine or gas, uterine prolapse and problems with the sexual intercourse.
Why does our pelvic floor weaken?
There is a belief that what really weakens the pelvic floor is childbirth, but it is not the only cause, in fact, There are many women with pelvic floor problems who have never been pregnant and, in many cases, are very young.
- Have personal predisposition. Women with some weakness of muscle and ligament tissues.
- Any situation that increase intra-abdominal pressure
- Sports like running or jumping, doing classic crunches or with weights, weightlifting.
- Jobs that require you to carry heavy weights.
- Obesity
- Chronic constipation
- Playing wind instruments
- Chronic cough
- The pregnancy
- Complicated, instrumental or very wide episiotomy deliveries.
- Menopause
Can I prevent it?
There are factors that we cannot change, such as the personal predisposition of each one of us, the pregnancies childbirth or menopause, but the rest of the factors that cause pelvic floor injuries can be, at least, control.
- Avoid impact sports or jumping.
- Never forget specific exercises for the pelvic floorEspecially if you are a runner, musician or because of your work you are forced to carry large weights you cannot forget.
- Try to keep your weight stable, the gain and the oscillations in the weight are very harmful for this part of our body.
- Avoid constipation. Eat more fruits, vegetables and foods rich in fiber, drink a lot of water.
- Avoid alcohol and tobacco.
- Don't hold the urge to urinate. We women tend to delay going to the bathroom too long and then do all we can to empty our bladder in a short time. This increases the pressure within our abdominal cavity. very importantly, avoid it.
- Don't do classic crunches, lifting the trunk from the position lying on the ground to sitting touching the knees, not only will you not lower your waist, but you will destroy your pelvic floor. Better learn to perform hypopressive crunches.
We are going to work the pelvic floor
Until the middle of the last century there was no possibility of rehabilitation, until well into the second half of the twentieth century these exercises did not reach the majority of women.
Kegel exercises
It is not easy to identify the sensations of these muscles. At first it is usually easier to lie down, but you will have to find out which is your easiest position.
The first few times you do them, focus on try to pull the muscles of the vagina.
Hold the contraction for a few seconds, repeating several times and resting between one and the other twice as long as you have maintained the contraction.
When you master the technique you can go on to perform more types of exercises.
Slow contraction: is the one we just described, try progressively increase the time of contraction and relaxation.
Fast contraction: the technique is the same, but instead of holding the contraction for a few seconds, we will do quick contractions, we will start by doing sets of 5 or 6 contractions and we will increase the number as our pelvic floor allows us.
Elevator contraction: To perform this type of exercise you must master the previous ones.
Think of your vagina as an elevator ride, floor to floor. Try to contract your vagina as if it were going up in that elevator from one floor to another.
At the beginning or you will identify more than one or two, hold a few seconds in each one and when you go down do it also one by one, holding for a few seconds in each one.
Wave contraction: Certain muscles of the pelvic floor surround the vagina, others the urethra while others surround the anus, the idea is contract these muscles from front to back (first close the urethra, then the vagina, and finally the anus) and relax them from back to front.
It is important to do the exercises daily. At first you will need to be very concentrated to do them, over time you will be able to do it anywhere without anyone noticing what you are doing.
Hypopressive gymnastics
It was created by Marcel caufriez, in the 80s of the last century. Works the abdominal muscles without increasing intra-abdominal pressure, also strengthening the pelvic floor.
In this type of gymnastics control of breathing and diaphragm is very important. It also improves posture.
It is quite complex to learn so it is usually better to go to a professional to advise us.
And you know, do not settle for using absorbents or suffering in silence, there is a solution, so ask for help.