For most of our lives, we’ve been able to control our bladder, hold it until we get to the toilet and rely on our innate ability to keep us dry. One in three of us women will struggle with bladder leaks. This is called incontinence. It is a medical condition and can be treated. Prolapse is another condition that affects many women, one in four, in fact. Both of these conditions relate to a weakened pelvic floor, which can be helped.
There has actually been a lot of research into how to treat these conditions, which includes specialised physiotherapy and surgical intervention. Whilst surgery may seem like the quickest and easiest solution, it does come with its inherent complications. There are risks of revision surgery and surgical complications. Physiotherapy has traditionally been the gold standard in treatment since the whole concept revolves around rehabilitating weakened or damaged muscles. This treatment isn’t available to everyone. However, remote locations, lack of specialists in the area, affordability, and lack of time to attend appointments are all barriers to getting yourself in shape.
The key to treatment is strengthening the pelvic floor through proper and consistent exercise. The pelvic floor muscles are a hammock of muscles that support the organs as well as a baby during pregnancy. They also need to stretch to allow the baby to travel out of the birth canal during birth. They also need to resist the pressure of the abdomen when lifting, exercising, running, coughing, and sneezing. It’s these muscles that need to keep the urethra closed to keep us dry, as well as support our pelvic organs in place when urine is able to escape the bladder unintentionally. This means that the pelvic floor isn’t operating as normal. This could be due to a lack of tone, strength, ability to control the muscles or a combination of all of the above.
The good news is that muscles are adaptable. We can work to rectify this condition. The biggest challenge is that the pelvic floor muscles are hidden muscles and were previously activated subconsciously. So, to exercise the pelvic floor, we need to learn to contract and relax properly and do it repeatedly. We’ve all heard the advice to do your exercises whilst just sitting at the traffic lights or standing in line at the grocery store, but this just isn’t helpful. PeriCoach is designed to show you how to consciously control your pelvic floor through biofeedback, which shows you what you’re doing when you think you’re squeezing and relaxing. This visualisation tool creates a feedback loop that helps your brain to learn to control your muscles consciously.
Additionally, the app provides a program to follow. Like any rehab, it requires a little bit more work than just a single session here and there. Three minutes, five times a week, is all you need to do to increase strength and control. Our eight-week challenge aims to keep you motivated and interested so that it sets you up for the best outcomes possible. We know it works, so we offer a guarantee. If you’ve completed the challenge and you’re not satisfied with your improved results, we can offer you your money back. Your muscles are ready for the challenge, you just need to give them what they need and try PeriCoach.