In a few year time 6 and a half million people will be suffering from an issue
that no one really wants to talk about but if you're coughing and sneezing
and wetting your pants, then you already are one of those people
and we want to talk about it here on Everyday Health and we want to help you
so we've brought in a women's health physiotherapist, Shira Kramer
also a Continence Foundation of Australia ambassador
so thanks for joining us.
Those a huge numbers is it really that bad?
Yes Tiff, it's a massive problem so it is 1 in 4 Australian will suffer from bladder and bowel control issues.
As a leading women's health physiotherapist, I see over 1,000 women through my doors
each month and I can tell you it's a major issue and it's a very serious one.
Is it an issue for men as well?
Yeah, absolutely. So if we look at the 4 of us on the couch here
1 in 4 of us are going to have leakage when we cough, sneeze, laugh or exercise
and you're not excluded.
Nah, that's amazing.
And Shira we assume that this is just for older people
that's not right?
No, so everyone can be affected by incontinence. Young people are also affected.
We know that half of Australians who suffer from incontinence are under the age of 50.
So you hear about the exercises you can do. what can we do?
Yeah, so there's a lot you can do to prevent and manage urinary incontinence
pelvic floor muscle exercises are a major thing that can help with that.
So should we have a go at them?
Can I also just ask, when should we start doing these?
Yeah, so we should start doing these as young as you can understand to do them
I like to think that we can get in there in schools and start to educate our youngsters
to invest in their pelvic floor.
So this isn't just something that affects women who have had children?
Absolutely not, so yeah that stigma of it's just for the pregnant lady, or the new mum or the older adult.
No, so this is affecting the whole community.
It's affected men. It's affecting elite athletes as well.
So it is widespread.
Alright so take us through. What do we have to do?
Excellent. So I've been designing programs to ensure pelvic floor muscle health,
preventing it and managing it for years and I can assure you that pelvic floor exercise do work.
They need to be done correctly.
If you're not doing them correctly today there's an easy way to check with your women's health physiotherapist
or there are some great resources out there with the Continence Foundation of Australia
But let's get into it. So, you need to have good posture first.
Right.
I'm already practicing
Great. Now you need to relax the muscles as a starting point.
So the muscles sit within your pelvic cavity. I need you to relax them first
and if you're at home, join us to do it as well.
So relaxing first from your back passage as though you are letting go of wind
and the front as though you are letting go of wee.
But please don't actually do that guys!
This is an awful couch colour!
[laughter]
So let those muscles really relax and let your tummy muscles relax.
Yep. Keep that posture. Excellent.
Okay, so now we're going to work on finding those muscles
so you're going to tighten and lift around the back passage first as if you are stopping wind,
front passage as if you're stopping wee
and then it's a lift and tighten nice and strong inside, keep lifting guys,
keep breathing, keep smiling. Keep breathing, keep those shoulders relaxed.
Keep your butt cheeks relaxed, keep your thighs relaxed.
And then you let it all go.
So how long do we hold it for?
Yeah, so it's individual but as a starting point, if you can just get that muscle to work
and the beauty of it is all you need to is this exercise 3 times a day
to optimise your pelvic floor muscle health.
3 times a day, how many sets?
reps?
Yeah, so it is individual but I'd be careful to give an exact for everyone
as an individual assessment is important.
Little tips like do it when you get stuck at a red light and that kind of stuff.
Do you tell people that or do you make an actual specific time to do them?
So initially it does take a lot of concentration as you probably felt
it's good to do it when you have a quiet moment.
So maybe not driving a car.
Initially as you become very good at it.
I thought it might be a good thing to do at the traffic lights.
So some quiet time to really focus and visualise to make sure you've got good technique.
It's really important that you do the exercises well
and do it regularly.
Beautiful.
Fantastic I think we've certainly all learned something.
Definitely.
Definitely take something away.
Remember, it is World Continence Week and if you want to find out more go to continence.org.au