Pelvic Floor Exercises
If you experience slight bladder weakness usually after coughing, sneezing, laughing, or lifting heavy objects, your doctor or health care professional may ask you to perform pelvic floor exercises.
Pelvic floor exercises are designed to strengthen the muscles located around the bladder opening. By exercising these muscles, you may improve your symptoms. In order to get the maximum benefit from these exercises, it is very important that you perform them correctly.
Benefits of Pelvic Floor Exercises
Regular pelvic floor exercises are very important for women of all ages.
Women with stress incontinence, who regularly lose urine when sneezing, coughing or exercising, should especially benefit from these exercises.
For pregnant women, these exercises help the body to cope with the increasing weight of their baby. If your pelvic floor muscles are healthy, fit and strong prior to giving birth, chances are your muscles will recover back to normal after giving birth.
As women grow older it is important to keep the pelvic floor muscles strong because through menopause the muscles change and may weaken. A pelvic floor exercise routine helps to minimise the effects of menopause on pelvic support and bladder control.