Can You Kegel Your Way Out Of That?
Are Kegels the first thing that comes to mind when you hear about Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy? You wouldn’t be alone!
Do you even know what a Kegel is? You wouldn’t be on your own there, either.
For a few different reasons, pelvic health has been reduced to “do your kegels” for a long time, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.
That type of guidance is not only a disservice to people who suffer from pelvic floor dysfunction, it also undermines all of the hard work that pelvic health providers have put forth for DECADES to elevate the field of pelvic health to what it is today (and for them, we should all be thankful!).
The Misconception of One-Size-Fits-All Solutions
If you had knee pain, would you expect your issues to resolve with the same exercise as the next person with knee pain? Okay, maybe...but would you bet your precious time and energy on it?
With either case, the knee or the pelvic floor, there can be immense value in finding out WHY you’re experiencing your symptoms because that will give way to a solution that is tailored to your problem.
So, What About Kegels?
So, what does this have to do with kegels? Kegels are a strength exercise for the muscle group that creates the pelvic floor. The idea is to contract your pelvic floor muscles in a lift and squeeze motion.
This may feel easy for some and incredibly foreign for others, but it’s something that I think everyone should be able to do and understand in order to improve their general health and understanding of their bodies. The issue with this comes with the idea that it’s the solution to every problem.
Beyond Weakness: Tension and Coordination
When someone has symptoms of urinary leakage, pelvic organ prolapse or is recovering from childbirth, it’s easy to assume that they have weakness in their pelvic floor that is creating their problems.
On the contrary, we see more often than not that the issue lies in increased tension and lack of coordination in this system. We can only know this for sure by doing a thorough assessment of the pelvic floor muscles.
The Importance of Full Range of Motion
If you have a lot of tension in your pelvic floor, or can’t fully relax it, you’re going to have imbalances in this muscular system that can create sensations of pressure, difficulty maintaining continence, increased urinary urgency, painful sex, etc. ALL of our muscles need to be able to access their full range of motion to be the most functional, and that includes the pelvic floor as well!
Speak To The Experts TODAY!
So, if you treat this particular set of problems with the reductionist approach of “do your kegels!” you not only miss the underlying cause for a person’s symptoms, you run the risk of showing them “I did what I was told, my problem didn’t improve, something must be wrong with me” or worse, “I guess I have to live with this”.
This is where it is important to leave it to the experts. I’m so excited to see more and more people acknowledging the pelvic floor and all of the ways it is so important to our health and well-being.
However, if you’ve tried to do something like kegels and your problem didn’t change, seek real, evidence-based help from a trained Pelvic Health Physical Therapist.
It’s never too late (or too early) to work on your pelvic floor, regardless of your gender, your history of childbearing (or lack thereof), or the severity of your symptoms.
Let me help you decide what you can actually kegel your way out of.
Call for a Discovery Visit today to see if Pelvic Physical Therapy may be helpful for you!
Free Information To Reduce Your Pelvic Pain
Follow us on social media to get lots more free advice, expert tips, and strategies to reduce your pain and become AntiFragile!
Read Our Blog - 6 Tips For Managing Your Headaches
留言