The Importance Of Maintaining Your Pelvic Floor Health

The UK trails behind other parts of Europe where the subject of Pelvic Floor Health is discussed much more openly. In France, for instance, there's a much higher recognition of the importance of maintaining Pelvic Floor Health and very positive steps are taken to monitor a woman's Pelvic Floor Muscles during and after pregnancy. In the UK Pelvic Floor Health is on the agenda of every Maternity Unit where Kegel Exercises are explained, demonstrated and sometimes even practiced. But typically it ends there.

Urinary Incontinence is a significant issue in the UK, typically experienced amongst women in their later years, typically caused in their earlier years - the major contributary cause being the stresses and strains of Childbirth.

Young fit and healthy women may not associate one of the most common signs of damaged or weakened Pelvic Floor Muscles which is a lowering of Sexual Gratification with its real cause. Pelvic Floor Muscles interact directly with the sexual organs. Strong and healthy Pelvic Floor Muscles can significantly increase sexual pleasure for both partners.

By taking care of your Pelvic Floor leading up to and perhaps more importantly after Childbirth you can greatly reduce the possibilty of you suffering embarrasing problems later in life.

The most effective way of restoring your Pelvic Floor Muscle Form is regular exercise. This is where Kegel Exercises come into play. In theory they're easy enough to do and no-one challenges their effectiveness. The problem is Kegel Exercises need to targetted to the correct muscles otherwise you risk a lot of time and effort for little gain.

How, then, can you be sure you're exercising the correct muscles? You can purchase toning aids that when fitted into the vagina give a visual check that you're doing it correctly. Effective maybe. Discreet? Not really.

The best way of ensuring that your Kegel Exercises are being done accurately is to use EMS - Electrical Muscle Stimulation but its very important that you use a device specifically designed for exercising the Pelvic Floor.

Pelvic Floor Muscle Stimulators are similar in appearance to and often confused with a TeNS Machine. However they are very different. A TeNS Machine is designed to manage pain. A Pelvic Floor Stimulator is designed to exercise your muscles. They accurately target the correct muscles by using a self positioning Vaginal Probe which acts as an electrode to transmit tiny electrical signals directly on to the correct muscles.

Using a Pelvic Floor Stimulator is easy and not unpleasant. You feel a light tingling sensation and you Pelvic Floor Muscles will contract and relax in patterns determined by your Muscle Toning Machine. All muscles are very complex in nature and the electronic programs to exercise them correctly are very precise. It's important, therefore, to use a good quality stimulator. Ideally one designed for professional use.

As with any muscle toning project the effects of your Pelvic Toner won't be seen immediately. However improvement should be noticed after 2 or 3 weeks of regular use and the full effects after maybe 6 to 8 weeks.

If you're taking a serious interest in your Pelvic Floor Health you might consider going one step further and investing in the Simplex device. This is a unique product that actually measures and displays your Pelvic Floor Muscle activity in real time as you run through your exercises. Simplex is directly related to a professional EMG Machine suitable only for highly trained professionals. The manufacturer of Simplex recognised the need for this facility to be made available to Health Advisers who act as the first line of defence within NHS Urinary Clinics. Whilst trained in their profession typically they do not have the technical knowledge of the specialist physiotherapists backing them up. Simplex was therefore designed to be easy to use and interpret. In achieving this they have also made this fascinating technology available to the public.