ABC of pelvic floor muscles. What to do and what definitely not to do.

We hear more and more about the pelvic floor muscles. Very good! Because they have a lot of work to do during our lives. So that they serve us well into old age, it is worth remembering them. You may find that some bad habits can be really harmful to them. Check if you are handling your MDMs properly.

Don't hold your urine, but don't pee too quickly. When we wait too long to go to the toilet, our bladder expands like a balloon. If you inflate a balloon repeatedly and it becomes deflated and loses its elasticity, the same thing will happen to your bladder. However, peeing in "mini portions" sends false information to the brain that the bladder is full. The body can quickly learn to react by pressing strongly on the bladder when there is little
in it.


Don't pee on Little One. It won't hurt to go to a public toilet once in a while, but if you often find yourself in a situation where you can't sit comfortably on the toilet seat, it's best to buy a funnel for standing up peeing or hygienic seat covers.


Appropriate position on the toilet. We sit upright and proud :) We take a breath and, as we exhale, relax the muscles, letting out what has accumulated in our bladder or intestines. The correct "two" position requires tucking your legs in to be as close as possible to the position that is natural for us, i.e. the squat position. It is worth buying a low stool to rest your feet on, but it can also be an upside-down bowl or 4 rolls of paper, two per foot.


Do not exercise your kegel muscles unless recommended by a physical therapist or doctor. Symptoms such as urinary incontinence or frequent visits to the toilet may be symptoms of both too tense and too relaxed MDMs. Exercising overloaded muscles will unfortunately have the opposite effect and the problem may worsen. Besides, there is no such thing as Kegel muscles ;) There are Kegel exercises, and the correct name of the muscles is simply pelvic floor muscles.


Don't sit on the toilet for too long . The "action" on the board itself, regardless of whether you pee or poop, should last from 11 to 22 seconds, not several episodes of South Park. If you treat the toilet as a haven of peace and quiet, sit longer, but with the lid closed. When we spend whole quarters of an hour on the toilet, the MDM are not supported, and they themselves have many organs to support and without support they simply strain. This also applies to men!


Does it hurt? Take a look at this. For example, if you feel pain during intercourse and you haven't had a problem with it before, it's possible that some muscles are too tense. It is worth getting a dildo with a small bent tip, so you can examine the place that requires more attention. Sometimes just touching the area and holding it with gentle pressure will cause the muscle to relax on its own. In case of severe pain, a visit to a urogynecological physiotherapist is necessary.


Beware of activities that are unfavorable to MDM. Jumping on a trampoline, lifting weights or Cross Fit are the most taxing for MDM. Of course, this does not mean that you cannot do them, but when training, it is worth being aware of properly relaxing MDM under the care of a physiotherapist.