Pelvic Floor myths
Ah, the pelvic floor. There are over 650 muscles in the human body and these ones, your pelvic floor muscles bring more than their fair share of misery to millions of women. Give me a leg cramp any day. Even period pain is preferable to having to get up to wee three times a night or having to wear a horrible bulky pad on a romantic night out living with the constant fear of springing a leak.
But there are a LOT of myths doing the rounds about the pelvic floor so let’s be sure we know our facts from fiction.
Myth No 1 | Pelvic Floor Muscle exercises are easy to do
They aren’t, trust me! The pelvic floor muscles are complicated and hard to isolate. And even for those of you who manage better than me (probably all of you), did you know that over 50% of us do them incorrectly, which can actually make the problem worse?
Myth No 2 | When it’s gone it’s gone
The pelvic floor can be completely retrained. You just have to listen to some of the women talk on to see how their lives have been transformed – both physically and mentally – after gaining back control of their bladders. It is never too late to try – there is no ‘too old’ or ‘too many children’. It can be improved, with the right programme of exercise!
Myth No 3 | Having children leads to irreversible damage to the pelvic floor
I have lost count of the number of women I’ve heard saying something along the lines of “Well I’ve had three kids; my days of trampolining are well and truly over”. Bladder leaks can be caused by many things, but it is never inevitable. Grey hair is inevitable but many of us do something about that. Wrinkles too are inevitable but how much do you spend on face creams and the like? Thickening around the waistline comes to many of us as we age, but if we exercise effectively even this isn’t inevitable! We do these things because we can do something about these issues. It’s been a long time coming, granted, but we CAN finally do something about this problem too.
Myth No 4 | Women who have C-sections don’t need to worry about their pelvic floors
Sadly (as a woman who has had two) this isn’t true. Simply carrying a baby during pregnancy can put a lot of strain on your pelvic floor, your pregnancy hormones can affect the pelvic floor too (in preparation for childbirth) and if you started labour with the intention of a vaginal birth, this can also put a strain on your pelvic floor.
Myth No 5 | Women who have not had children don’t need to worry about their pelvic floors
Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. Hormonal changes, weight gain, stress or even a chronic cough or constipation can lead to a weak pelvic floor and bladder leaks.
Myth No 6 | Men don’t have a Pelvic Floor
They do! And they too can be trained, this is particularly important after prostate surgery (although not with Pelviva sadly; they have to do the work themselves).
Myth No 7 | If you cut back on liquid intake, it will mean less leaks
Drinking less liquids will not reduce the amount of bladder leaks. If you drink less, the chances are your bladder will shrink and it might not be able to hold large volumes when you do have a drink!
Watch the videos. Read the testimonials. Do your research. It’s time to stop letting these pesky muscles get in the way of the life you want to live or being conned into thinking bladder leakage is normal. It’s time to take action and restore your pelvic floor!
By Kate Taylor
(Not a doctor or a scientist, just a normal 43-year-old woman with two children who has just discovered Pelviva)
PEL/00072/UK July 2019
