The pelvic floor is actually a large group of muscles that stretches throughout the floor of the pelvis. These muscles are attached to the pubic bone and the tip of the spinal column. When viewed in a cross section from the side it would look like a hammock that is suspended between the two bones. The opening for several important organs of the body, such as the bowels, bladder, and the womb needs to pass through these muscles. The pelvic floor is very important because it is the muscle that supports and contains the organs inside your abdomen especially when you are standing. It holds up the bladder to ensure that it stays closed and when you sneeze or cough it tightens automatically to ensure that no fluid from the bladder would leak because of the sudden movement. It is also important in controlling your bowels. Finally it plays a factor in arousing sexual awareness during intercourse.
Due to inactivity and old age pelvic floor muscles weaken, this is a common thing in all muscle groups through out the body, but because of the involuntary effects that it has on the body it is quite disturbing once the symptoms of weakening of the pelvic floor manifests itself. Those two reasons are not the only factors that can cause weakness of the pelvic floor. Changes in the hormonal level of the body can also affect it. These hormonal changes can occur during pregnancy. Being overweight, suffering from constipation, and coughing are also some factors that can cause weakness of this muscle group. In men, pelvic operations can affect the muscle group. Studies have shown that problem dealing with weak pelvic floor muscles groups are very common. More than 25% of women have been found to suffer from mild to moderate form of pelvic floor weakness.
Pelvic floor exercises for women can be used in strengthening the muscle group. It has been proven that regular proper exercise of the muscle group yields favorable results. It is generally recommended that pelvic floor exercises be performed as early as possible to help reduce the risks of problems developing later on. Women who have been diagnosed with a weakness in the muscle group should seek the advice of experts first before trying exercise as it may have negative effects on the body.
Here is a simple exercise that you can do on your own. This exercise can be used to give your pelvic floor a good workout:
1. Squeeze the muscles around your butt, vagina, and lower abdomen.
2. Try to control the muscles as if you are trying not to pass gas and count to 8.
3. Relax the muscle slowly, you should get a distinct feeling as you let go.
4. Repeat this exercise up to as many as 8 to 12 times.
There are other exercises that you can do in order to work on your pelvic floor, but this is the simplest and easiest of all. When you perform this exercise regularly, you will feel the benefits of its effects on your body right away and it will improve over time as with any exercise that you do regularly.