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 | Second Pregnancy | Get in Shape | Circumcision | Postpartum Fitness | Kegel Exercises | | Stroller Fitness | Midwives | Kegel exercises help with stress incontinenceby Skylar Hill-Jackson & Karen Weinthal |
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Are you one of those women in the fitness class doing jumping jacks on one foot at a time instead of both feet at once? When you feel the urge to sneeze or cough or laugh do you first have to cross your legs and tighten the muscles below your waist and above your knees? Can’t run for that bus? Always need to know where the nearest bathroom is? Stress incontinence is a recognized problem, but one which the bladder protection industry would have women believe is inevitable. Sales of these products have more than doubled since 1988, and it’s now a billion-dollar business. Television commercials and magazine ads urge women to protect themselves from embarrassing accidents with “super absorbency fitted briefs or extra absorbency pads” during daily activities. A walk down a drug store aisle will show you almost as many varieties of adult bladder protection pads as there are baby diaper brands. But, is stress incontinence a fact of life for women who have had a baby or two? Is it just one of the indignities of growing older? The answer is ‘no’, at least it doesn’t have to be. Through exercise and diet it is treatable and often curable. Medication for certain kinds of incontinence can help, and surgery can be used as a last resort. There are reportedly over 1 million Canadians who suffer from stress incontinence, and 57 per cent are women between the ages of 45 and 64. For women aged 30 to 50 a leaky bladder is considered to be the most common type of incontinence, of which there are several: 1) stress incontinence: caused by sneezing, laughing, coughing; 2) urge incontinence: an unstoppable desire to urinate; and 3) overflow incontinence: incomplete emptying and leaking.. Kate, a mother of two, remembers even as a teenager hanging out with her girlfriends and laughing and leaking. “We called it ‘spilling a penny’.” Lizzi, a recent new mother, remembers her grandmother, who had seven children, experiencing stress incontinence in her late 50s. “She began doing pelvic floor strengthening exercises when she was 60, and even in her 90s she had the best bladder control in the family.” Often women become aware of a bladder problem while they are pregnant, when they are unable to sleep through the night without getting up to use the bathroom several times. During pregnancy, the pelvic floor and sphincter muscles come under intense pressure from the enlarged uterus. The pelvic floor supports the bladder, uterus and bowel and is the group of muscles attached to the pelvis (the hip bone) at the coccyx (tail bone)., lower pelvic sides and pubic bone (in the front). A figure -eight shaped band of muscles with three orifices providing sphincter control (for the vagina, urethra and anus), these muscles maintain support and proper positioning for the pelvis organs. All muscles lose elasticity and tone from the wear and tear of daily living but with the added stress of pregnancy (or multiple pregnancies) and birth sudden weight gain, menopause or general aging, the pelvic floor is further compromised resulting in muscle weakness and stress incontinence. Previous generations of women were uninformed about the pelvic floor. They often found themselves with inadequate support in the pelvic area leading to a prolapsed uterus and/or bladder. Their ‘insides’ would fall down, or out, and require surgery. Older women were disappearing into hospitals for unnamed ‘women’s troubles”. During the 1950s Arnold Kegel, M.D., a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UCLA, specialized in repair of loose vaginal muscles, prolapsed bladders and prolapsed uteri. Looking for an alternative to surgery and stating his goal was to put himself out of business, Kegel designed a specific exercise for women to do so they could regain strength in their pelvic floors. The exercise worked. Ninety percent of cases could be helped and surgery was avoided. Every pregnant woman who attends childbirth education classes, or prenatal fitness classes learns to do “Kegels”. “I wish there had been more of an explanation of why these exercises were so important during pregnancy”, Kathy, a new mother says. Alina, another new mother, says,”Nothing brings home how important these exercises are like pushing out a baby!” Kate feels doing pelvic floor exercises during her pregnancies helped push out both her babies. “ The doctors couldn’t believe how strong my muscles were during the pushing stage.” For Liz, the pelvic floor exercises helped with postpartum hemorrhoids. “The doctor suggested the exercises and told me to toss a few in during sex!” BABY & ME FITNESS exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor During pregnancy and postpartum women can find a special time or situation that triggers performing pelvic floor exercises: car at red lights, subway/bus stops, TV commercials, breastfeeding, elevators, boring meetings at work. The following exercises, if done regularly, will help prevent poor bladder control, hemorrhoids, and will tone the vaginal muscles for an easier delivery and healthier healing after birth. Women find some of these exercises easier than others, so pick your favourite and do 10 over the course of a day, every day; and pass these exercises on--to your mother, sisters, grandmothers, aunts and girlfriends.
Ways to cure or manage stress incontinence:
More and more baby boomers are taking responsibility for their personal health care, and are commited to a healthy older age and these invisible pelvic floor exercises are an important part of any health regime. These exercises are important for the young woman learning about her body and investing in good muscle tone for the future. For all women vitally involved in their own sexuality. For the childbearing woman trying to maintain comfort and control. For the older woman committed to a highly functioning healthy body. |
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