FAQs
Every day people ask me questions about Pelvic Floor Health. Here we try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions. The answers provided are of a general nature. Of course, we always suggest that you consult your health professional for your own specific health needs.Why does my bladder leak?
What is the Pelvic Floor?
Where is my Pelvic Floor?
Can I fix my Pelvic Floor?
What is a Kegel?
How do I protect my pelvic floor?
The main reason why women experience bladder leakage is because of damaged or weakened muscles called the Pelvic Floor Muscles. This is a group of muscles that help to hold urine inside the bladder. At the base of the bladder is a valve called the bladder sphincter which holds the bladder shut - a bit like the draw string on a cloth bag. This sphincter valve and the Pelvic Floor muscles work together to keep the urine inside the bladder. When the Pelvic Floor muscles become damaged or weakened - perhaps from childbirth, incorrect lifting, or repeatedly carrying heavy weights for example - the muscles lose tone and strength. If the bladder sphincter isn't held closed then urine can leak out. This is referred to as Urinary Incontinence or UI. There are a number of different types of UI; for example Stress Incontinence, Urge Incontinence. These muscles can all regain strength with a regular ritual of correct exercises.
Why does my bladder leak?
The pelvic floor is a term used to refer to the band of muscles that connect the bones of the pelvis. These muscles form the muscular base of your pelvis; without them, everything could just "fall out".
The muscles interconnect to join the pubic bone at the front with the coccyx, or tail bone, at the back. The muscles connect sideways to attach to your sitting bones, which are the bony ends of your pelvis.
For most people the answer will be “Yes, by creating a regular ritual of simple muscle strengthening exercises done correctly, most people will be able to “Fix” their pelvic floor muscles.” A very small percentage of women may require surgery with only very few being beyond recovery. Even women who do not experience full recovery of their muscles find significant benefit and noticeable difference in pelvic floor strength.
Sometimes the pelvic floor exercises are referred to as A Kegel exercise because they were invented by Arnold H Kegel M.D., F.A.C.S. (1894–1981) who was Assistant Professor of Gynaecology at University of Southern California School of Medicine. He originally invented them to be done using weights inserted into the vagina.
It was always his intention that the exercises would be done with the guidance of a health professional. Any woman can try the exercises for herself but many of the women who do the exercise without guidance from a health professional are using the wrong muscles.
How do I protect my pelvic floor?
There are a couple of things you can do. Having a ritual of regular simple exercises done correctly is the very best thing you can do. Things that damage your pelvic floor:
- Lifting weighty objects the wrong way
- Lifting too much weight
- Lifting too heavy weights at the gym
- being obese or overweight
- poor toilet habits
- being constipated
These are all to be avoided
What is Stress Incontinence?
Stress Incontinence is when a small amount of urine leaks out of the bladder. When you laugh, sneeze, cough or lift heavy objects the pressure inside your abdomen increases pushing downwards and outwards. The pressure inside your bladder increases. If the urethral sphincter and the pelvic floor muscles are not strong enough to counteract the increased pressure inside the bladder that is caused when we sneeze, laugh, cough then urine will leak out of the bladder. As part of their regular ritual of exercises women practice deliberately contracting their muscles before laughing or coughing.
What is Urge Incontinence?
Urge Incontinence is when the bladder starts to contract involuntarily and begins to empty itself. Two things happen when a healthy bladder is about to empty at the toilet. The urethral sphincter relaxes; this is the valve at the base of the bladder and when it relaxes it allows the urine to flow out of the bladder. The bladder itself contracts to squeeze the urine out. Urge Incontinence happens if you wait too long until you urgently need to urinate and the bladder cannot wait any longer so it involuntarily empties itself.
Urge Incontinence can also be triggered by a sudden change of physical position eg from sitting to standing. This latter is quite common if we have been sitting for a long period of time and suddenly stand up, without engaging our pelvic floor before we stand.
