How To Know If You’re Squeezing Your Pelvic Floor Correctly

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and fascia, sitting like a hammock at the base of your pelvis, and has a number of functions such as supporting your pelvic organs and assisting with faecal and urinary continence. As you can’t see it, you might be wondering how to know you are turning it on and off in the right way. Here’s your guide on how!

The gold standard is to have your pelvic floor internally assessed by a pelvic floor physio. This can help us to understand:

• Pelvic floor strength and endurance 

• Pelvic floor coordination and quality of movement 

• Pelvic floor relaxation 

• Pelvic floor tone or tightness 

• Pelvic floor support

• Pelvic organs 

• Pelvic floor response to coughing, bearing down or pushing 

Other ways a pelvic health physiotherapist can assess your pelvic floor are:

• Visual examination

• Ultrasound

Both of these help us to understand whether your pelvic floor contracts and relaxes and how it responds to a cough, bearing down, pushing etc. 

When you require a pelvic floor assessment, your pelvic health physio will always discuss appropriate options, the clinical reasoning behind it as well as what is involved. They will always as you for consent - it is always your choice! 

Why have an assessment?

A pelvic floor assessment is a great tool to be able to assess your pelvic floor function, and can be useful for:

• Pelvic health concerns, such as incontinent, constipation, pain with sexual intercourse, pelvic pain or pelvic organ prolapse 

• Pregnancy (even if you aren’t experiencing any symptoms - proactive is great too!)

• Birth preparation

• A postpartum check 

You can also check your pelvic floor yourself. Here are some ways you can do so:

• Use a mirror to notice the change in skin - it should crinkle and draw up as you activate, and descend back down as you relax 

• Stop the flow of urine: this shouldn’t be something that you do every single time you go to the toilet (don’t make a habit of it!), but it can be one way to check your pelvic floor can activate 

• Place your finger in your vagina - you should be able to feel the squeeze around your finger as you squeeze and lift, and the relaxation around your finger as it relaxes 

• Place your hand on your perineum - you will find that your perineum will puill away from your hand as you activate, and the opposite happens as you relax your pelvic floor 

If you'd like to know more about your pelvic floor or you're unsure if you are squeezing your pelvic floor correctly, book in for a session today.