++ DOCTOR’S ORDERS

THE IMPORTANCE OF A STRONG PELVIC FLOOR

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published draft guidance about the pelvic floor and pelvic-floor exercises. This included the fact that the pelvic floor, and how to exercise it, should be on the national curriculum. I welcome this, as less than one in five women performs pelvic floor exercises daily.

The pelvic floor is a hammock of muscles in your pelvis, which supports your organs. If the pelvic floor weakens, then there can be problems resulting in prolapse and urinary incontinence. All women should be doing pelvic floor exercises, irrespective of age, and we should be doing them daily!

But how? Firstly, you need to find the muscles of the pelvic floor – the back part is felt as you squeeze as if you were trying to stop yourself passing gas, and the front part is felt as you squeeze as if you are trying to stop yourself urinating. Squeeze both of them together, but don’t hold your breath or squeeze your tummy or buttocks at the same time. Once you have identified the muscles, practise short holds where you squeeze for a second, then relax; and long holds where you squeeze for five to 10 seconds. Aim for sets of 10 short and 10 long holds three times each day.

The guidance also suggests that if you have had an assisted delivery, with forceps or a ventouse, then you should be offered a pelvic-training programme from a women’s health physiotherapist. Prevention is always better than cure, so do your pelvic exercises. They can help to prevent problems with incontinence and prolapse, but also improve your sex life and ability to reach orgasm!