One GLAMOUR mum on the best pelvic floor trainers – reviewed, tried and tested. Plus, everything you need to know about kegel exercises and this hidden muscle group.
Before I had a baby, I’d never even heard of my pelvic floor. Yet during pregnancy, it’s drilled into you how important it is to get your “squeezes” in every day, in order to avoid issues around urinary incontinence. Of course, after the baby is born, unless you have obvious issues, it’s all too easy to forget about it. My NHS Squeezy app hasn’t been opened postpartum at all.
I was discussing this with my friend who is a GP recently, and was surprised to hear that pelvic floor health is incredibly important as we age – whether we have children or not. In fact, she spends her days currently inserting pessaries in older women with prolapse. Scratch beneath the surface, and a lot of my female friends who are mothers have experienced dribbling during exercise – as well as prolapse in many cases. This was all the wake up call I needed to start thinking seriously about my own pelvic health.
According to Elvie, 60 percent of women in the UK report at least one symptom of poor pelvic health, with one in three mums experiencing urinary incontinence. What’s more, 27 percent of us have never done any pelvic floor exercises in the six months after birth – and I’m part of that stat. And while I’ve had my pelvic floor strength assessed via a private women’s health physio (The Mummy MOT) and passed with flying colours, I’d still benefit from working on my kegels.
Meet the expert:
- If, like me, everything you thought you knew about kegels and your pelvic floor was learned from an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians, then you’ll want to hear what our expert, Dr Rita Rakus has to say. A leading aesthetics doctor with over two decades of experience in treating women with pelvic floor issues, she’s a practitioner at her namesake clinic in London’s Knightsbridge.
The best pelvic floor trainers at a glance:
What is the pelvic floor and how does it impact health?
“The pelvic floor consists of essential muscles and ligaments that support organs within a person’s pelvis, including the bladder, uterus, and rectum,” shares Dr Rakus. “Maintaining a healthy pelvic floor through exercises and awareness is crucial for preventing problems including urinary incontinence, bowel dysfunction (such as bowel incontinence), pelvic organ prolapse and quality of life such as sexual dysfunction and psychological distress.”
Do I need a pelvic floor trainer?
The first step is to find what you actually need – because while some pelvic floor trainers comprise an assortment of pretty pastel-hued ‘weights’, others could give your Apple Watch and Dyson Airwrap a run for their money in the tech stakes. If you’re postpartum or suffering with any incontinence, it’s best to get checked out by a medical professional first, usually a women’s health physiotherapist.
How to train your pelvic floor muscles
OK, so you know that you need to work on your pelvic floor, where do you get started? “There are various ways to train your pelvic floor muscles,” says Dr Rakus. “From kegel exercises, which involve contracting and holding your pelvic floor muscles for a few seconds and releasing, multiple times a day, to performing pelvic floor muscle training recommended by a pelvic floor physical therapist.
