Wind back the clock of your pelvic floor

We get out of bed and it takes a few minutes to warm the knees up before we can run around the house. We sit down for too long and it takes a little longer to stand up because of our stiff back. We feel the need to go to the toilet and… oops!

As women, our pelvic floor becomes more important to us as we age. In our 20s, we don’t think about it. In our 30s, we deal with the aftermath of childbirth. In our 40s, we talk about it a lot in terms of enjoying ourselves in the bedroom, and once we hit 50 and 60, we can’t stop thinking about it because of our near misses and accidents when we laugh at a joke over lunch.

We can’t help it but as we age our pelvic floor muscles naturally weaken. It’s a combination of things, the natural reduction of muscle strength, the weakening of muscles not frequently used and the stretching of muscles from activities like childbirth.

The pelvic floor is a muscle that connects from your pubic bone to the tip of your tailbone. It supports your uterus, vagina and rectum, which is why it is so important.

Emily Georgopoulos, a women’s healthy physiotherapist from Pogo Physiotherapy says that “dysfunction in your pelvic floor leads to problems with your bladder and bowel including incontinence and prolapse.”

Even the slightest weaknesses in the pelvic floor can have a large impact in your lifestyle so it’s important to be aware of issues and keep your pelvic floor muscle in the best shape possible.

Kegel exercises have been around for years. They are exercises that work your pelvic floor and help to strengthen the muscle. But, a new device on the market is revolutionising your kegel workout.

It is called the KGoal and it is a smartphone app based device that helps to monitor your pelvic floor exercises, track progress and help you to keep that part of your body strong and healthy.

Miss Georgopoulos told Starts at 60 that the device is great as it helps you to perform the exercises correctly, acting like a digital physio.

“The easy to use device gives you real time feedback via vibration of the device or using their simple app on your smart phone. The KGoal has workouts planned in the app so you no longer have to count and motivate yourself.”

But the question is, while you are sitting at home watching TV you can do these exercises in a discreet way. Will a device like the KGoal just make working the pelvic floor invasive or will it be great to have professional knowledge and guidance without awkward and embarrassing visits to the doctor or physio?

So ladies, we want to know what you think. Would you use the KGoal? Is your pelvic floor even on your health radar at the moment? Have you had issues with it before? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below…