To treat pain and other ailments, exercises to strengthen the muscles have proven to be important. This should also apply to the muscles of the pelvic floor, which will gain in importance in the following text. Basically, the pelvic floor is just as important in terms of its function as the rest of the muscles in the body. It is also in direct contact with the abdominal and back muscles and together they form a stable corset for the trunk. Together they ensure, among other things, stability when lifting heavy loads.
Benefits
The pelvic floor can be seen as a union of many small muscles. These lie in several layers and run in different directions. Like a base of muscles, they hang under the pelvis and are attached to it.
These should be able to hold or run the urine and stool in the right quantities through conscious and unconscious contraction. Weakness of the pelvic floor can cause complaints such as back pain or continence problems for urine and stool. This can severely limit the daily activities of those affected and is often associated with feelings of shame.
Thus, a pelvic floor training program that is agreed upon and suitable for each individual patient is helpful. To target the muscles of the pelvic floor during training is not easy and requires a certain body awareness and imagination. For this reason, a lot of metaphors are used in training to make it easier for the patient to tense the pelvic floor muscles.
You can read more about this in the article Pelvic Floor Training – Pregnancy. Since the pelvic floor has several courses in different directions, the exercises should be varied during pelvic floor training and address all muscles as well as possible. The woman goes through different phases in the course of her life in which her body changes.
First comes puberty, in which the female sexual characteristics are formed and developed. Until menopause, the woman is able to become pregnant. In order to care for and carry a child in the abdomen, as well as to give birth to it, the body is transformed by hormonal changes.
After a pregnancy, these changes subside and return to normal. When the woman has reached a certain age, the hormonal changes return and menopause sets in. Especially in the phases before and after pregnancy and during and after menopause, the pelvic floor should receive special attention.
During pregnancy, the pelvic floor performs important work and is subject to increased demands. With age, like any other musculature, it decomposes more quickly and is less able to perform its holding function. The importance of pelvic floor training is therefore especially important for women.
The phases described above bring with them promoting factors for the development of a weak pelvic floor. Pelvic floor training is recommended in order to counteract this and to eliminate complaints permanently. You can find exercises for this in the article Pelvic floor exercises.
With regard to men, they do not go through pregnancy and are less exposed to risk factors for a weak pelvic floor. Nevertheless, the muscles of a man, at least in old age, degenerate faster and complaints such as pain or incontinence can follow. Trauma and operations in the urogenital tract (e.g. bladder surgery or removal of a tumor in this region) can also lead to the pelvic floor being less well controlled by the nerves.
Pelvic floor training is therefore indicated in such events in the same way as for a woman after a pregnancy. The topic of the pelvic floor is already a sensitive issue for many women, which is associated with shame. The more difficult it is for many men to deal with it mentally.
In pelvic floor training, the man should not only train the function of his pelvic floor again, but also improve his body perception. Many men lack the feeling of their body, especially in the pelvic area. So the pelvic floor training should also give the men self-confidence again.
During pregnancy the pelvic floor has to withstand higher loads and is additionally stressed during birth. When the child is born, the muscles of the pelvic floor are stretched to a great extent and can be injured. As a result, it can no longer fulfil its holding function.
If an injury occurs, the pelvic floor training should be waited for a few days. This ensures that the area can heal better. If the pelvic floor was not injured at birth, pelvic floor training can be started slowly on the second day.The body of a woman goes through a major physical change during pregnancy.
Hormonal changes cause the ligaments of the pelvis to loosen and lose their stabilizing function on the bone. The pelvic floor must be able to withstand this new strain and perform more work. The weight of the child in the lower abdomen also leads to a higher load on the pelvic floor, and structures are additionally subjected to tension.
Complaints such as back pain and continence problems are therefore not uncommon. It is therefore advisable to do pelvic floor training before the birth and physiotherapy during pregnancy. Strengthening supports the muscles in their holding function and can better prepare them for the situation after birth.
A strong pelvic floor can be better controlled again after the birth. It is also easier for the woman because she already knows the exercises and the muscles can also remember the training stimulus better again. During pregnancy the factor of body feeling is added again.
The new conversion of the body, can lead to an uncertainty of the woman. The body perception is important already in pregnancy to be able to deal with her body positively again. Exercises can be found on the page Pelvic Floor Training – Pregnancy.
This article may also be of interest to you:
- Yoga for pregnant women
- ISG complaints during pregnancy
Pelvic floor exercises should not be performed for a short period of time. It is not easy to do this in everyday life, as most people are limited by time. If the woman has to care for her child after birth, the time for many exercises is lost.
It is not always possible to lie down on a mat and do exercises while lying down. The aspect of participation is especially important for mothers and working people. Participation is participation in life.
Therefore, exercises should be selected that can also be implemented in the patient’s everyday life. Since this does not only take place while lying down, but mostly while standing and walking, exercises in standing position are included. Incontinence can be promoted by various factors.
With age, the musculature degenerates more quickly and should be strengthened by training. Due to conditions such as dementia, decreasing body awareness and other factors, seniors find it more difficult to control their pelvic floor. But even in old age, a suitable pelvic floor training can help. Because even in these cases the quality of life and dignity is of great importance and should be preserved. You can find exercises in the article Pelvic floor exercises.
