Although we’re approaching the end of January, it’s not too late to make a resolution to take control of your incontinence if you are one of the many people who deal with it daily. As with any resolution; commitment and consistency will be a deciding factor. Here are 5:
1) 8 pelvic floor lift and holds per day
Like any muscle in the body, your pelvic floor muscles grow stronger with the right type of exercise. To make these key muscles work better for you, it’s important to do at least 8 consecutive pelvic floor contractions a day. To do this, you have to squeeze your sphincter muscle as though you’re trying to block the flow of urine. This will, in a sense, ‘lift’ your internal muscles and will feel rather uncomfortable at first. This is simply because the sensation will be unfamiliar. However with every rep, you have to concentrate on ‘holding’ it for longer and with increased internal strain. Do these lift-and-holds often enough and you will notice your pelvic floor muscles become stronger.
2) Find your neutral spine posture and hold it
Take a mirror and stand sideways. You want to find your spine’s natural curves. For most people, their spine sits on a slight concave at the base and leads up to a gentle rounding of their upper back and then a slight concave of the neck leading to the skull. To find your neutral spine position you, stand with soft knees (in other words, don’t lock them so your legs are ridged). Next, adopt a gymnast stretching pose by putting your hands on your hips and rocking your pelvis back and forth. You should feel strained when arching back. After some time, revert back to your soft knees stance. Now draw in your belly button in, tightening the imaginary corset around your spine. You body will naturally find its natural posture from doing this. Finding and holding this posture allows your pelvic floor muscles to react and contract when you cough, lift or laugh.
3) Exercises per day to work specific muscle groups
Your inner thighs, transverses abdominus and hip rotator muscles work in coordination to stabilise your pelvic floor muscles in between going to the toilet. Working on these muscle groups has a profound effect on the front, back and sides of the abdominal and pelvic muscle which, in turn, exerts more control over the bladder muscles. A local personal trainer or physical therapist will most likely have a host of strengthening exercises that you can do daily.
4) Drink more water
This is the opposite of what many people with urinary incontinence do, but is exactly what a healthy body needs. Nutrition experts reckon eight 64oz cups of water per day is sufficient. Why? Among other things, water flushes the system as much of the foods we eat are, by themselves, irritants to the bladder. Such irritation leads to increased frequency and intensity of urge. It’s a simple case of: more water, the more diluted potential irritants will be.
5) Get out and move!
Nothing is better for your neuromuscular, cardiovascular, digestive and respiratory system than simple, straightforward exercise. Whether it’s walking, dancing, swimming or running up and down your stairs. The positive effects on your continence should simply not be underestimated. Our bodies are amazing and as long as you’re committed to doing a combination of pelvic floor lifts, adopting the correct spinal posture and regular cardiovascular exercise, you will see a market improvement in your ability to control continence.
Have you got anything you would like to add to this post? Please do so in our comments section!
If you have questions, doubts and concerns about incontinence, don’t hesitate to contact our specialist nurse Shona about it, all questions are dealt with discretion and privacy.
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