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Ok... I have tried and tried but I can't seem to get a grasp on pelvic floor exercises... i can't seem to isolate the muscles, and just end up squeezing my bum too.
I sneezed last week and had a bit of a leak, and am now really stressing that I am going to be incontinent.
I am also pretty lazy and forget about them, but now after the leak I want to get them stronger for the birth and after too...
:help: please any ideas will be much MUCH appreciated :help:
Mel I've had problems isolating them too (and working out whether I am doing them properly). I know what you mean about forgetting to do them too. It's harder to remember to do them if you don't know that you are doing them right in the first place.
I am about to go back and see the female physiotherapist I saw for back pain before the birth. She also specialises in continence "issues" (ahem). Hopefully she will give me a few tips.
There are devices such as Epi No and others which can help but they are only for after the birth.
Mel, I think you can't go wrong with finding out what the pelvic floor muscles are by sitting on the loo when you are peeing and stopping the flow (completely). You'll see that it's not your bum muscles that you need to tense. Once you know what the feeling is, then it's not advisable to stop the urine flow regularly (not good for your bladder long term, or something like that). Hope this helps :)
I have actually heard that you should tense your bum muscles, and I think automatically then you do your pelvic floor muscles.
Thanks Sal... I have tried that... but I can't find them again... well I don't feel like I am doing anything to them...
I try to tense them, but when I go to release, I don't feel anything????
When you're on the loo, stop the flow but have your knees as wide apart as poss.
And as gross as this may sound, (and maybe TMI), if you place your finger inside and the vagina feels 'roomy' rather than 'resistant and tight' then you need to work on your exercises....or a nicer way to find out is when you're DTD, ask your partner to be still for a moment, then tense your pelvic floor and get him to tell you how 'strong' it is and how long you can hold it for before it slackens.....
Hope that helps.....:)
Thanks for that... I will try that... I think that TMI went out the window as soon as we started learning about TTC, the pg... hehehe
Mel i always forget to do mine but i try and do them everyday. Sometimes i do them when sitting at the computer. No idea if i am doing them right or not but i try all the same.
The epi-no can be used during pg for pelvic floor. It basically gives you something to squeeze down on, and you read the pressure on a guage so you can see if you're getting stronger, and making sure you're holding the same pressure for the 10 sec or however long you hold it. It's used for these exercises as well as inflating the balloon for the perineum.
Just as a note.. my butt muscles squeeze whenever I do it too, but then I'm able to sort of move the squeeze further forward... if that makes sense! LOL.
I think the reason you're not supposed to stop urine midflow too much is that it can cause an infection?
I go to the loo before my shower, and then do my exercises in the shower, push out like I'm trying to pee, and then pull those muscles 'upwards' like an elevator (well, the elevator imagery works for me :p)
The pushing out helps me make sure I'm using the right muscles and if some pee comes out, well, I'm in the shower so it's all good :)
Hope that helps, all the best for finding something that works for you!
Ok... it's not looking good for me!
This morning I tried to stop the flow of my wee, it slowed quite a bit but I couldn't make it stop completely... I then tried the finger to see if I could feel it tightening, but could hardly feel anything...
I have read so many pamphlets on it,but can't seem to get it right...
Oh stupid me of course Epi No can be used before birth (duh).
Most other devices though have cautions on them which tell you not to use them during pg. I've seen the Vielle one (which you can get at Priceline) and what can only be described as "weights" for one's vagina (sounds like one of Emily Howard's "lady's things" doesn't it?) in a pharmacy.
Pardon me, I'm off to powder my nose ...
Mel
Keep going - even though not much feels like it is happening - it will eventually.
At about 37 my pelvic floor just started weakening - couldn't even blame pregnancy as I had never been pg, just something that happens with age. But did start doing exercises and it helped. I couldn't hold my pelvic floor for any length of time. I could clench and then it would just dissolve away.
Now I can get the elevator to stop at 4-5 floors on the way up and the same on the way down..... hee hee.
The best way I've found to remember, is to do them while you are washing your hands after you go to the loo. Stick a post it note on the mirror for the first little while til you get the hang of it.
Thanks Kar... that is reasurring... I will do that with the post it's... great idea.
Lets hope I can make a difference in the next 10 weeks!
Mel - definitely you will notice in 10 weeks. I think it took about two weeks to stop the leaking I was experiencing. But I did have to keep remembering to do them....
In 10 weeks time you'll be fantastic!
thanks for the encouragement... I am putting a post it up tonight!