The low-down on pelvic floor muscles and incontinence

Exercise is one of the ways to improve your physical wellbeing and it aids in great measure to get rid of ailments, aches and pains. Follow the exercise programme provided by the biokineticists at Anine van der Westhuizen Biokineticist in George and feel the difference. This week biokineticist Megan van Huyssteen chats about the pelvic floor.

Last week I discussed what your core is and said a little about pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor muscle literally forms a sling that supports the internal organs and stretches across the floor of the pelvis. It runs from your pubic bone at the front, all the way to attach to the coccyx (the tail bone at the end of your spine) at the back.

Weakness of this muscle may result in some common problems, with the most frequent one being urinary incontinence.

This term can be explained as involuntary leakage with increased pressure in the abdomen, thus, the inability to hold urine in the bladder.

Because this is much more common than most people would expect, I decided to shed some light on this sensitive topic, which is an embarrassment to most of us. Even though the problem is more common in women, men can also suffer from incontinence.

You can determine how much the pelvic floor muscle is affected by the amount of urine that leaks out unintentionally when you cough, sneeze, laugh, or even lift objects.

Remember, each of our bodies is different; therefore it is always best to visit your doctor to know what the exact cause of your incontinence is.

Depending on how much the muscle is affected and the severity of other pathology, it may be improved by a voluntary contraction of the pelvic floor muscle, commonly known as Kegel exercises.

In order to do this exercise properly, you have to identify the muscle you need to contract.

This muscle is the one you would squeeze to interrupt urination. The best description is to imagine you want to stop urinating half way through. One should get a pulling-up sensation while you squeeze your pelvic floor muscles.

Try to hold it for 10 seconds, then relax and repeat for another 10 seconds. It may be necessary to do this exercise with your biokineticist to be sure that you are contracting the right muscle in the right way.

Once you have mastered this exercise and can do it without much concentration, it can easily be done seated on the couch at home, at your desk at work or even standing in the cue at the grocery store.