Anybody fixed a weak pelvic floor

[miamiamia869]

My pelvic floor is kaput.. I can't run it saturates me. I leak wee all day and can't hold a pelvic squeeze when standing for longer than 3 seconds.

Anybody had anything like this and actually fixed it with exercises. I am under physio but just seems pointless in my head? Nothing is improving with pelvic floor exersises.

Thanks

Have they mentioned surgery?

Are you still breastfeeding? That randomly improved mine when I stopped. It can be hormonal too. I found exercises made muscles more tired. You have to be doing them right though. Did physio actually check? It's a bit invasive but just to make sure you're doing them properly.
Have read about the Emsella chair but not tried it..

When I was pregnant with DD2, I had pelvic floor physio and she recommended doing the exercises lying down, then building up to doing them sitting, then doing them standing. I made loads more progress that way than just doing them standing (which was impossible due to the weight I was carrying anyway). She also taught me breathing techniques to do at the same time as the exercise to maximise the effect of them. Has yours recommended anything similar?

Following

Bulkamid.

I have only started physio this week. She didn't do an internal check but said she will next time. Just told me to do pelvic floors. I have been doing these for 12 weeks since birth. She said to start doing them standing. I can only manage 5 second holds atm standing. She said ultimate goal is 10 second holds standing. I really can't see me not peeing my pants constantly just by doing these.

I ultimately want to run as its the only exercises I can actually get into too. Not being able too is making me feel just very meh. Constantly comfort eating to make myself feel better because I can't run bad cycle.

I am not breast feeding and she told me running and exercises unless it's basicly post natal pilates based is just a no!

I wish she had done an internal or check to see if I'm doing them right as just seemed like a pointless appnt tbh. Basicly told to do what I have been doing for the next 4 weeks.

Takes 3-6 months for full effect but a kegal8 machine worked wonders.

I follow fitnesscoach.twinmum on Instagram, she has loads of exercises for pelvic floor/deep core strength. I'm trying to fix my diastasis recti and already seeing improvements by doing what she recommends.

My physio felt the muscles on the inside of my hip bones to check I was doing the exercises correctly, no internals necessary.

ETA: I don't know if that will be the case for everyone.

I had physio several years ago and had internal by an older lady and she said to pull up inside which I did didn't work then had the mesh surgery and I woke in agony. 18mths later I had it removed as I couldn't walk or even sit on a toilet properly as it hurt I couldn't do stairs. Saw a new physio recently at same place as last time was told to sit on a deflated pilates ball. And I was told by this young girl that pelvic floor is in the back passage and to think of picking up a chocolate with your bum cheeks and squeeze she never touched me and after 4 visits I was discharged still leaking I even got the joylux device which cost but just made things worse I hate my life sex hurts and I bleed after as the skin is thin I'm lost now as to what exercises to actually do very confused

My pelvic floor was suffering after a traumatic delivery. It took a long time, but basically, absolutely zero impact exercise such as running, losing weight to relieve pressure on the pelvic musculature, lots of walking with attention on posture and core (I was also working to heal a wild diastasis recti separation) and some cycling (best was at the gym as I could keep my focus on holding a nice firm core), belly dancing / hulahooping and doing pelvic floor exercises lying down and sitting. It probably took a couple of years to get back to normal completely. These days I only notice weakness if I put on even a tiny bit of weight.

Sounds like you need oestrogen cream if your vaginal skin is thin

Dusty Lee123
I use that and also on Hormone gel and tablets and testosterone gel as now I get put off having sex So lost sex drive but still don't want to let partner down so any tips to improve would be helpful

Yes.

The physio worked well for me, but it’s a long term project rather than a quick fix. It may help to understand the hormonal effect of pregnancy on the body and flexibility. That takes many months to wear off after birth so through that period the return on the physio will take longer.

Short squeeze, long squeeze, and good relaxation. The no impact exercise thing is the same as how you wouldn’t do it with injured knee muscles. You go gentle while you do the rehab and rebuild the strength and then bring it back in.

Try keeping a diary or log, use Squeezy to track your exercises and put a note in each sunday of how long can hold for in standing. Find a post natal Pilates class, ideally physio taught. Work hard at it rather than lazy yoga follow along style.

I’ve been there. I was in the trampoline park last week with my three year old and left with dry normal pants. But you’re in for the long haul.

Hopefully she just ran out of time for internal and will offer next time, I’m also a physio in this area. If running is particularly a goal of yours you can look at products such as Efemia which support the bladder when running.
an internal is really key here to assess your strength and endurance but it takes minimum 12 weeks of following a regime to notice improvement.
Guidelines are to try ‘supervised’ exercise e.g a guided exercise plan before trying adjuncts such as electrical stimulation so lots of other things to do if standard exercises don’t help just yet please don’t give up!

Perifit. Blooming amazing.

Mine turned out to be an overactive bladder. Solifenacin has been a godsend. All the kegel exercises in the world didn’t fix it xx

I’m really sorry, this sounds incredibly frustrating, especially when running is the one thing you enjoy and it feels completely off limits!

One thing that really helped me (and that I wish had been explained earlier) is that pelvic floor rehab usually isn’t just about squeezing harder or holding for longer. For a lot of people, especially when symptoms are severe, the issue is how the pelvic floor is working with the rest of the core and breath, not strength alone.

Doing the same long holds over and over can sometimes make things feel worse or just stagnant. What made more sense to me was working on different tempos (shorter holds, quicker lifts, full relaxations - this lady on TikTok does a great job of showing the variations: www.tiktok.com/@femalephysiosarah) and learning how to engage the deep core so the pelvic floor isn’t trying to do everything on its own.

An internal assessment can be really useful for this, not just to check strength but to see whether you’re actually able to fully lift and relax the muscles. It might be worth asking your physio about this next time, especially if things feel pointless at the moment.

It’s still very early days with physio, even though it doesn’t feel like it. A lot of people don’t see meaningful change for weeks or months, and that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. I also found having a simple, postnatal-specific plan to follow at home in between physio helpful as it doesn't just do squeezing but rehabs the whole core, pelvic floor etc. This is the one i used: https://wild-mama.co.uk/

Yes, physio and the exercises helped me. But yes you need help to know you are doing them correctly, and you need to do them multiple times per day consistently for months.

I couldn’t quite get what you were saying about postnatal Pilates but that also helped me a lot. I can run now and don’t leak, bar the occasional massive sneeze! I do feel a deterioration if ive had a cough, and then a few weeks back on the exercises seems to sort it out.

It’s grim, but don’t give up, you can make a vast improvement.

Lurking

I had a very weak pelvic floor and I have had the EmFemme 360 vaginal rejuvenation and 3 sessions on the Emsella pelvic chair. It’s has vastly improved my pelvic floor strength. No more leaks and my sex life has improved too

I strengthened a weak pelvic floor with exercises but what you are describing is next level weak and you need surgery.