Let’s get on track again!

“I’m losing motivation! Help!”

One of the key factors that we have found motivates our patients with their pelvic health, is the impact their symptoms have on their day-to-day activities and quality of life.

Think of those things you used to be able to do that you now can’t because of your pelvic floor symptoms!

  • Be out in public without looking for where the nearest toilet is
  • Go more than 30 minutes without using the toilet
  • Exercise, cough and laugh without leaking wee
  • Making it to the toilet in time without losing control of your bladder or bowel
  • Enjoy intimacy with your partner without fear of pain
  • Enjoy a normal life without pain or discomfort impacting you daily

Take the time to think about what is important to you and your life, and what is your pelvic floor holding you back from. That is why you are on this journey!

 

Let’s look at the treatment evidence for some common pelvic floor symptoms…

When it comes to stress urinary incontinence (bladder leakage with movement/exercises/sneezing/coughing etc), we know that 3 out of 4 women will experience SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT or COMPLETE CURE just with pelvic floor exercises!

For mild to moderate vaginal prolapses, 6 out of 10 women will report noticeable improvement in their symptoms, including symptoms related to bladder leakage and bowel urgency. For those women that are struggling to get symptom-relief, prolapse pessaries have shown to significantly improve symptoms further.

So we KNOW  that pelvic floor training more often than not is effective, so that should be enough right? Well what we also know is that another crucial key to success is adherence.

 

“I don’t think these pelvic floor exercises are working!”

If you’re feeling this way, you’re in good company with many women who have felt this way in the past. However, research shows us that low consistency in completing a full pelvic floor training program each day can lead to false rejection of an effective treatment.

MYTH BUST

If you’ve only managed to do your exercises sporadically for a short period of time, and are thinking they should have made a difference by now, it is important to understand how muscle training works. Often sporadic training for short periods means you have not reached adequate muscle overload… a principle whereby the muscle must be challenged enough (adequate repetitions, sets and load) to actually strengthen. For example… If a person lifts a 10kg weight once a day for 2 months and never progresses to lifting 20kg repeatedly, it makes sense they won’t be able to lift 20kg right?

This erroneous rejection of a treatment can lead to unnecessary invasive interventions such as injections, procedures and surgeries!

So the key message here is… persevere, stay consistent and give the program time to make those muscle adaptations effective, so that the outcome you want is achieved! It’s hard, but you’ve got this!

If you’ve been consistent with your pelvic floor program but you haven’t seen improvement, this may be because the program needs adjusting. We will only know this is the case if you have been completing the program, so help us give you best treatment by ensuring you have given your program a red hot go!

 

“So if consistency is key, how do I improve this?”

Firstly, by remembering your why! What are those things you’re wanting to do again?

Secondly, lets implement some tangible strategies that successfully build exercise adherence…

ARE YOU…

  • Losing concentration during the exercises or finding them boring?
    • Firstly… you are right, they are boring
    • Download apps on your phone to help keep your attention or make a game of it
      • Squeezy
      • iPelvis Evo
      • PFEI
    • Forgetting to do them?
      • Set reminders on your phone 3x a day
      • Paint a fingernail a colour – every time you see that nail, do a set of your exercises!
      • Pop a bright reminder sticky note in a location you visit every day without fail, such as the kettle, bedside table or bathroom mirror.
      • Pick a triggering event that reminds you to do your exercises there and then… stopping at a traffic light, sitting on the toilet, having a cup of tea, breastfeeding etc
    • Struggling to find time through the day?
      • Do some before you get out of bed and after you hop into bed at night, that’s your exercises done twice a day!!!
      • .. do in the car on the way to and from work/school, while breastfeeding, in a TV ad break etc
    • Lacking privacy?
      • Do in shower, in the car, on the toilet.
    • Struggling to visualise the pelvic floor?
    • Not sure if you are completing the exercises correctly?
      • Many people feel this way – you are not alone!
      • Did you know that there are devices to help tell you if you’re doing your exercises correctly?! We recommend discussing with us which device would be best for you…

If you need any assistance with your pelvic health journey contact your Women’s Health Physiotherapist or use this link here to learn more about our Women’s Health services.