March 13th, 2014
If you are experiencing any of the listed symptoms, you are not alone. Did you know that:
Pelvic floor is comprised of muscle fibers such as coccygeus and levator ani along with connective tissue to support the pelvic organs. Certain risk factors such as physiological aging, high parity, menopause, chronic metabolic disorders (diabetes), history of weight lifting or high impact exercise, morbid obesity (BMI more than 30 kg/m2), uncontrolled hypertension, surgery, trauma and long term smoking can affect the potency of muscle fibers and significantly increase the risk of urinary incontinence in females.
Traditionally, the most common indication of pelvic floor reeducation is urinary incontinence; however, it can be effectively utilized for these indications as well:
There are 3 primary components of pelvic floor reeducation:
But healthcare providers may advise other modalities of management as well such as postural exercises, behavioral therapy, massage therapies, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques and myofascial release
Biofeedback training involves electrical stimulation to increase the subjective control over pelvic floor muscles. It is important to perform muscle training with biofeedback training in order to stimulate muscles and effectively assess the strength of contraction of pelvic muscles (it has been observed that gluteal or abdominal muscles are often mistaken for weak pelvic muscles in some cases).
Muscle training exercises involve kegel exercises. You can perform muscle training by following these steps:
Repeat this exercise at least 8-12 times a day (you can perform this exercise while lying down, sitting or standing). In order to improve the quality of results; follow these recommendations:
Research data indicates that if executed properly, the positive effects of pelvic floor retraining can be seen as early as 2 – 8 weeks.
Other exercises are:
Research conducted by Chantale Dumoulin (2) and associates suggested that 3-week pelvic floor reeducation has helped in minimizing the urinary leaking and subjective complaints. On 1-year follow-up, Dumoulin reconfirmed the strength of pelvic floor muscles and patency of urinary sphincters via sophisticated diagnostic tests.
According to the statistics, the annual cost of urinary continence management in developed countries like United States is as high as 16 to 26 billion; but with simple lifestyle modifications and pelvic floor reeducation, you can definitely improve your health free of cost by reeducation your Pelvic Floor Muscles.
References:
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