I’ve written a few posts now about pelvic floor diagnoses and about signs that you may have problems with your pelvic floor muscles. So maybe you’ve been reading and you think “Oh crap, I’ve done that!” or “OMG maybe I have that?!” And now you’re thinking… “Okay so what do I do now?” So maybe you’ve been reading and you think “Oh crap, I’ve done that!” or “OMG maybe I have that?!” And now you’re thinking… “Okay so what do I do now?”
Ah, Valentine’s Day. Whether you are single, happily married, or desperately trying to avoid the “holiday” it’s out there. And with this holiday comes an emphasis on romance and from there it’s not a far jump to S-E-X. Whether you’re going it solo today or planning on seducing someone there are some things you should know about orgasm!
Alrighty, now if you’re expecting this to be a “Cosmopolitan” style article then you have come to the wrong place. I can’t take credit for these rules. I found them when reading “When Sex Hurts.” I could try to reword them, but honestly the authors did a great job! These “rules” are more like the boundaries which we should have been taught in sex ed. I’ll expand on each of the rules but please keep in my mind that these are my opinions.
Last week I went over pelvic floor anatomy and function. This week we’ll keep with the pelvic floor (PF) theme and talk about PF function during exercise! I know, when you're working out the last thing on your mind is what those PF muscles are doing. Unless you're like me and are thinking about that... but anyways. All those muscles are working overtime when you're working out.
In 1948, Dr. Arnold Kegel published a study about exercises to increase muscle tone of the pelvic floor muscles (specifically pubococcygeus) to treat women with incontinence (leaking pee) after childbirth. Scientists are super original so the exercises were named after him. Thus the birth of Kegels (Get it!? Birth... kegel!? Just LOL silently for me ok?)
Since then Kegels have become a magical, fix all cure.
Recently breast self exams have become an important part of standard women's health practice and education. A pelvic self exam is still pretty hush-hush material though. We need to change that! You know what your toes and shoulders look like and which angle you can take the best selfie from. But do you really know what you look like "down there"?
Two weeks ago you were all "OMG I pee too much!" Or maybe you timed yourself and realized you're nowhere near the 8 second mark. And then you were like... wait now what.
Don't worry, I won't leave you hanging. Here's how you can work on increasing the length of time between pee breaks. (Psst- if you're confused then read about the bathroom do's & don'ts first!)
