These are some of the common symptoms:
- I sometimes pee my pants when I cough, sneeze, jump, exercise, or lift heavy objects.
- I feel like I am “looser” down there after giving birth to my child.
- I need to use an artificial lubricant to have vaginal intercourse.
- I feel a heavy fullness in my vagina that I don’t recall having until recently.
- I find my orgasm intensity is not what it used to be, and I just don’t “come” that often anymore.
All of these scenarios can be incredibly frustrating and embarrassing, yet millions of women suffer needlessly from them every day. There’s a common belief that it’s impossible to change your situation if you have any of these issues. Fortunately, that is not the case. There is a simple solution that can greatly reduce and likely eliminate each of them.
If any of the above descriptions apply to your life, you’re likely experiencing weak pelvic floor symptoms. You are not alone. More than 75% of women have this condition. The good news is that pelvic floor muscles can easily become strong again and provide significant relief. Kegel exercises are an excellent way to tone those muscles if done correctly. In doing so, you will be treating all of the problems listed above and/or preventing them from happening in the first place.
Common Symptoms of a Weak Pelvic Floor
Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence is extremely common, but out of embarrassment, few women reveal they suffer from it. Surprisingly, bladder leakage impacts 66% of women, with 40% of women experiencing initial occurrences in their 20’s. Young women can experience signs of pelvic floor dysfunction just as easily as older women if the muscles are allowed to weaken.
Consider how quickly you lose tone and muscle in your legs if you’re not regularly working out. Similarly, if you rarely, or never, work out your vaginal muscles by contracting them, they will weaken and eventually become completely flaccid. Unfortunately, those muscles are needed to hold back urine. When they are weak, you can start to leak urine. Without exercise, the problem will continue to worsen. Fecal and gas leakage is also possible with a continued lack of attention to pelvic floor health. Fortunately, there are exercises to reverse or prevent these symptoms.
Organ Prolapse
There are many reasons women refrain from strengthening the muscles in their genital region. It could be a sense of modesty, uncertainty of how to exercise those muscles, or just not understanding the importance. Whatever the reason, lack of attention to weak pelvic floor symptoms can put you at risk of pelvic organ prolapse.
Organ prolapse is when the uterus, bladder, or rectum sag into the vaginal canal. More than 75% of women have some degree of pelvic organ prolapse for one or more of their pelvic organs. Exercise helps reverse the trend of sagging as long as the organ has not descended below the vaginal entrance.
Vaginal looseness
Over 45% of women believe their vaginas are “looser” after giving vaginal birth. If this is a concern for you, you may no longer experience pleasant sensations during intercourse. Decreased sensitivity is a result of not having a comfortable grip on the penis during penetration. Pelvic exercise naturally and safely creates the squeeze effect, whereby you can contract the muscles creating a narrow orifice through squeezing. The same exercise reinforces the ability to relax the muscles to accommodate comfortable insertion.
Strong pelvic floor muscles can contract and relax, both of which are important for vaginal health and sexual function. The improved ability to contract the pelvic muscles noticeably enhances the intensity of orgasms. Pelvic exercise can improve your experience in many ways. After all, an orgasm is simply a muscle contraction.
Vaginal Dryness
Vaginal dryness is a serious issue for women that have pelvic floor issues. A typical reaction is to try artificial lubricants; however, this approach does not fix the problem. Lubricants only mask the problem temporarily, and they can introduce a new set of concerns. For example, many people do not like the stickiness, smell, or taste of artificial lubricants. There can also be a need to re-apply continually. Finally, if you run out or simply don’t have it around at the right moment, sex may not be possible.
Dryness is often a consequence of the loss of tone and function of the tissues of the vagina. Natural lubrication improves with increased tone and strengthening of these muscles as arousal and muscle contractions become more vigorous and productive.
Sexual Dysfunction
Sexual dysfunction not only reduces physical pleasure for both you and your partner but can negatively affect your relationship, confidence level, and overall sense of self-worth. Without strength in the vaginal muscles that enable you to experience intense contractions, satisfaction is significantly reduced. With proper attention to the associated muscles and a regular exercise plan, you can quickly notice an increase in your sexual pleasure.
After a few weeks of kegel exercises, you may notice you can orgasm again (if the ability has waned.) You may become orgasmic in more sexual positions than before, and the length and depth of your climax may intensify. Women who use Kegelbell regularly report an uptick in climax intensity with each level of increased weight.
Pelvic Floor Spasms
Like any muscle in the body, the pelvic floor muscle can experience spasms. These muscle cramps or spasms are frequently a result of injury such as childbirth or labor, holding tension, or potentially dehydration. Spasms are similar to hypertonic muscles, which is where the muscles are overly contracted, resulting in pelvic pain. This can cause constipation, painful sex, or incontinence.
3 Causes of Pelvic Floor Issues
While many people think pelvic floor weakness is just a little old lady problem, the reality is that women even in their 20s can experience weak pelvic floor symptoms. We’re looking to look at just a couple of the common causes of pelvic floor dysfunction.
Pregnancy
It goes without saying that the pregnancy and birthing process is one of the most challenging things a body can go through. The pelvic floor muscles, which support all of the organs involved in the process, are especially impacted. Just the weight from carrying a baby for nine months is enough to result in weak pelvic floor muscles. Whether the birthing experience is natural or cesarean also can impact the recovery time and pelvic floor dysfunction.
High Impact Activities
People who participate in high-impact activities, including running, gymnastics, dance, weight lifting, and many other activities over time weaken their pelvic floor muscles to the point of pelvic floor dysfunction due to the constant pounding on the muscles without strengthening them to be able to withstand that sort of exercise.
Aging
As women age, the natural levels of hormones in the body change. This reduction in hormones means that our muscles are not being fed the same amount they’re used to that used to keep them toned and fit when we were younger. The pelvic floor muscles go through this same transition, resulting in weaker muscles unless proper care and exercise are done to rebuild the pelvic floor strength.
Treatments for Pelvic Floor Issues
Kegelbell
Kegelbell is the first externally-weight pelvic floor training device that as a kegel-adjunct device treats and prevents many forms of pelvic floor dysfunction. In just five minutes three times a week, customers start to see improvements in their symptoms. By addressing the root cause rather than trying to cover up the problem like other solutions, Kegelbell helps people get back to the things they really love doing.
Traditional Kegels
For those looking for a free way to address pelvic floor weakness, traditional kegels are the best option. Kegels are an exercise that consists of isometrically squeezing the pelvic floor muscles. Not only do they treat and prevent laxity/looseness, but also incontinence, prolapse, sexual dysfunction, and vaginal dryness. This option requires that a person kegel at least three times a day every day, which can add up to 100 minutes a week just to maintain the pelvic floor muscles. Not only that, but numerous studies have proven that most women can’t do them properly, even with instruction.
Pilates
Most workouts don’t effectively target the pelvic floor muscles, which is why they’ve gone unattended for so long. Pilates is an exception to that rule due to the slow, concentrated movements and the focus on the core, including the pelvic floor muscles. Classes can be expensive, though, and it does require that the teacher help students focus on that muscle group.
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist
If there is no change with any non-invasive, exercise-based, approaches listed above, there may be a more complex underlying pre-existing condition and we would encourage people to consider seeing a physical therapist with a specialization in pelvic floor therapy.
Treat or Prevent Pelvic Floor Dysfunction with Kegelbell
If you are suffering from any of the weak pelvic floor symptoms described above, it’s not too late to take back control of your body. Many people believe that these symptoms are just things to live with, battles scars from pregnancy, sports of aging. The reality is that you don’t have to live with it, and in fact, you can achieve pelvic muscle strength like you’ve never had before with Kegebell.
Our customers see improvements after just two weeks of using the device. Customers report reduced leakage, stronger orgasms, more natural lubrication, and overall improved confidence. Best of all, you will be able to participate in your favorite activities with confidence again.
Get started on your pelvic floor training journey today with Kegelbell.
