A Treasure Chest of Healthy Information part 5

One of the cool things about the seminar that I am going to, is that Dr. B is working really hard to get us great information. He brought in several people yesterday to talk to us about Exercise. One of the ladies that came specializes in the Pelvic Floor.

She told us that:

13 Million Americans struggle with incontinence
11 Million of those are Women

That sounds overwhelming doesn't it? But there is good news! There are things you can do to help prevent or even improve the situation if you find yourself having problems.

I wish I would have had a chance to write down all the information that she shared but I will do my best to share what I remember - some of these lists are not complete - sorry.

Some of the things that cause incontinence or urgency are:
multiple pregnancies, being over weight, menopause, poor muscles in the core of the body, and JIC - This one is very interesting. She said that when we were children our Mothers would many times have us use the bathroom - "Just in case" well this is not really good for our bladder because like a child that gets away with something - then our bladder begins to think that it can get away with going when it really is not full- thus causing the urgency feeling.

Well there is help and hope:

You have probably heard of Kegel exercises- if not I am sure you can find all sorts of information on the Internet about them. She said they really do help. If you have tried them and don't think that they work - maybe you just did not do enough of them. She suggest you do 60-80 Kegel Exercises Every Day. And another reason that they may not have worked is if you are not doing them right.

There is another exercise that she showed us that really helps and I am hoping that I can explain this one enough for ya'll to understand.

You will sit in a chair - like on the edge of the chair with your feet spread apart -You will place your toes on the ground and you will turn your heels out - which will bring your knees to the center and together- then you will take your heels to the center - which will take our knees apart and out. She called these Rocking Chairs and said to do 2 sets of 15 every day.

This exercise will strengthen your pelvic floor. She also said it was very important to have good posture. Sit up tall and stand up tall and pull your stomach in slightly. These will help with your core muscles.

Another exercise that she said would help your core is to sit on the chair on the edge just as before. Sit up tall -hold in your tummy slightly to brace your abdomen - You will then raise your right are up and down and then switch to the left arm - raise it up and down. Then you will add leg movement. Lifting right leg up and down and then left leg. Then you will lift one leg and the opposite arm and back and forth.

The Pelvic is the base of the core. So if you strengthen the core you strengthen the pelvic floor as well. The Pelvic floor is no different than any other major muscle group in the body and it needs regular maintenance to function properly.