Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles which sit at the bottom of your pelvis. They support the pelvic organs, maintain continence and have a role in sexual function.
Their action is to squeeze and lift – they squeeze your sphincters closed to keep you clean and dry, relax your sphincters when you pee or poo and resist pressure when you laugh, cough, sneeze and jump. Pelvic floor muscles work all the time.
Pelvic organs which are not supported properly lean into the vaginal wall – that is called a prolapse. It is very common, 50% of women over 50 years old have one. Pelvic floor exercises won’t cure vaginal prolapse, but, they can manage symptoms and stop it from getting worse.
To find your pelvic floor – find some peace and quiet and lie down. Pay attention to your breathing, is your chest moving up and down or your tummy?
Take a deep breath into your chest, feel your ribs widen and the air push your chest up. Think about what you can feel in your vulva – nothing moves as you breathe into your chest.
Take a deep breath into your tummy, feel your belly button rise as your lungs fill. Pay attention to your vulva – can you feel the pelvic floor move down a little bit?
Gently bear down in your tummy, as if you are trying to do a poo. Can you feel your vulva bulge?
Lastly, imagine you are trying to hold in some wind. Squeeze your anus shut, can you feel everything lift up?
That is your pelvic floor relaxing and contracting.
Well done, you found it! Now to improve your pelvic floor, do that same exercise and hold that squeeze for up to 10 seconds, then relax. Don’t worry if you can’t maintain the squeeze for a count of ten, it will get stronger with practice.
Some apps and websites that can help you look after your pelvic floor are: