Your Pelvic Floor Journey – Part 1 - Between the Sheets
Welcome to ‘Your Pelvic Floor Journey – Part 1 – Between the Sheets’, a delve into the roles the pelvic floor plays in the female body from the very beginning of sexual activity, desire and satifaction through to pregnancy, childbirth and muscle weakness as we grow older.
Split into 3 parts, the first part sheds light on the crucial role of the pelvic floor muscles in enhancing sexual pleasure and intimacy. Prepare to be intrigued as we uncover the hidden complexities of the pelvic floor and its significance in sexual health, well-being and satifaction.
For the purpose of this blog, we will discuss the role of the pelvic floor specifically to the female body as the journey refers to pregnancy and childbirth. It is at this point we should probably mention that the pelvic floor also contributes significantly to the levels of sexual satisfaction in men as well as women!
YOUR SEXUAL BEGINNING
Bring yourself back to your first sexual experience. I doubt you’d even heard of a pelvic floor, unless you studied Human Biology! You were most certainly not concerned about your pelvic floor being weak or becoming weak, in fact, for the majority of young women who are not obese or suffering any medical conditions that implicate the pelvic floor, have strong and responsive pelvic floor muscles.
For many young women at the start of their sexual experiences, it can be a mix of excitement, curiosity, and uncertainty. Exploration of our sexuality often involves discovering preferences, navigating emotions, and learning about what the body can do and playing with our desires. Initial sexual encounters may vary widely in terms of pleasure, comfort, and satisfaction, influenced by factors such as communication, trust, and mutual respect with their partner. We have the added benefit of a fit young pelvic floor supporting us through the early stages of this exciting journey.
Wind on the years to your long term relationship, husband, wife, the only sexual partner you will have sex with for the rest of your life. It is at this point where a couple should feel most in love and experiencing the most satisfying sex of their lives. The sexual experiences women are able to create and enjoy are extremely special and many would say unrivalled in the heights of pleasure that can be reached. Whilst every woman is different, the female vagina is a complex structure of muscles, nerve endings, glands and blood vessels, all playing their role in physically desiring sex, and ensuring the woman has satisfactions of her own on the playing field!
An idealist view, sex is not always as satisfying as it could be, and there are many emotional, psychological and other unforeseen external factors that could mean it will never happen. However, we are going to be idealistic about it during this blog, in order to highlight physiological facts about the amazing pelvic floor, and how lucky we are to have it.
Let’s look at some of the amazing activity that the pelvic floor muscles work tirelessly during sex to maximise your pleasure and wellbeing:
1. STRONG PELVIC FLOOR MUSCLES = HEIGHTENED SENSITIVITY AND RESPONSIVENESS
Within the intricate muscular layers of the pelvic floor, lies a key determinant of sexual satisfaction: muscle tone and strength. Much like the other muscles of the body, the pelvic floor muscles respond to toning and exercise. Strengthening these muscles through targeted exercises, such as Kegels, or regular Pilates or Yoga classes, can yield incredible benefits in bedroom in terms of heightened sexual sensation and the intensity of your orgasms. By enhancing muscle tone, women can increase the levels of sensitivity and responsiveness, paving the way for a more fulfilling sexual experience for both parties!
2. KARMA SUTRA HERE WE COME!
Positions, positions, positions a plenty. Physical boundaries often go out the window in the throws of passion, which is where the pelvic floor muscles really come into play, silently supporting and maintaining optimal positioning of your pelvic organs so sex is comfortable enabling you to full immerse yourself in the moment without distraction for maximum pleasure.
3. CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF DESIRE
At the heart of sexual satisfaction lies the intense interplay of blood flow and resulting arousal. Here, the pelvic floor emerges as the key orchestrator, regulating circulation to the pelvic region. By optimizing blood flow to this sensitive meshwork of sexual organs, these muscles play a huge role in enhancing arousal, sensitivity, and lubrication from the initial sexual desire through to the end game.
4. LONGER & MORE INTENSE ORGASMS
In the height of passion, the pelvic floor takes is at the centre with its rhythmic contractions leading the path to climax and intensifying the sensations and duration of orgasm. If you are in the market for experimenting with sexual pleasure, nurturing the strength of your pelvic floor will unlock the full potential of your experiences and may lead you to places you’ve never been before!
ARE YOU READY TO START ON YOUR PELVIC FLOOR STRENGTHENING JOURNEY?
5. CONTROL AND COORDINATION
Between the sheets, being strong and coordinated rues the night. The pelvic floor emerges as a beacon of both, offering you the ability to navigate the experimental sexual positions you desire with confidence. Feeling like you want to be more experimental? Start with giving the Karma Sutra a read, then work on being mindful of your pelvic floor muscles with focussed toning exercises like Kegels, or give your pelvic floor muscles a strengthening boost with the Emsella Chair Treatment which will deliver the equivalent of 11,000 kegels in one session! Exercise is a great thing for your mind, body and pelvic floor, so look for a local Pilates class, one that focusses on the core pelvic region, or a good pelvic floor workout on Youtube like the one below:
You’ve heard a little about Emsella, if you’re in the mood for reading more, go to our Emsella Pelvic Floor Strengthening Treatment page.
6. PREVENTION OF PELVIC FLOOR DYSFUNCTION
When we are young, pre-pregnancy, we don’t think about the plethora of potential disorders of our genitals that give us sexual pain, losing the desire to have sex, drastically effecting our sex lives and relationships. Pelvic floor dysfunction, including conditions such as pelvic floor muscle spasms (vaginismus) or chronic pelvic pain syndrome, can all contribute to sexual pain in varying degrees.
Prevention is far better than cure in this instance. By focussing on strengthening and conditioning the pelvic floor muscles, you will give yourself the best chance at preventing or alleviating pelvic floor dysfunction, and reducing the risk of experiencing pain during sexual activity.
The pelvic floor plays a crucial role in sexual health by providing support to pelvic organs, regulating blood flow to the genitals, enhancing sexual sensation and orgasmic function, promoting control and coordination during sexual activity, and helping prevent sexual pain disorders. Through its multifaceted functions, the pelvic floor contributes to overall sexual satisfaction, comfort, and well-being, making it an essential component of sexual health.
When we have problems and issues in our sex life, it takes over mind, body and wellbeing, and sexual health is often overlooked from the ‘Contraceptive/STI’ talks we get in school. Good sexual health from an early age will improve your relationships, give you confidence and fullfillment growing up.
A strong pelvic floor in your early years, pre-pregnancy, is the absolute best solution to preventing pelvic floor dysfunction and pain post-pregnancy, but what we’ve learnt through this blog, is that massive contribution the pelvic floor gives to sexual satisfaction, and the vital role it plays in sex from desire to incredible orgasms, which I think we can all agree is great at any time of your sexual journey!
WHAT IS EMSELLA AND HOW DOES IT STRENGTHEN MY PELVIC FLOOR?
As qualified and trained clinicians, we work daily with promoting the best wellbeing for our patients at our clinic in Marlow. The Emsella Chair Treatment has given us as a clinic the ability to improve the quality of life of both men and women through pelvic floor strengthening therapy sessions that are non-invasive and that really work.
Emsella is a chair based treatment that utilizes electromagnetic energy to deliver thousands of supramaximal pelvic floor muscle contractions in a single session. These contractions re-educate and strengthen the muscles of patients suffering pelvic floor weakness and conditions associated with it such as urinary incontinence and a weak bladder.
Whilst supporting the use Emsella as a method of strengthening the pelvic floor, we do not dismiss the importance of following a Kegel exercise regime, and regular Pilates exercises, both fantastic for the body and mind, throughout your life, and are indicative to the success of your pelvic floor journey. There is however a new way for those who find doing Kegels difficult, or struggle to find the time.
What women find after a couple of sessions of Emsella is due to targetting and stimulation of the specifc pelvic floor muscles, they say they have “Found their pelvic floor!”, making doing Kegels alongside Emsella treatments highly effective. Emsella is not an excuse not to do pelvic floor exercises, but rather high intensity toning of the muscle in a short space of time, a pelvic floor tightening boost.
The effectiveness of the Emsella treatment is beyond any other pelvic floor exercise or tool. When you are receiving the equivalent of over 11,000 Kegels in a 28 minute session, you can only imagine how tight the muscle will be after 6 sessions!
Emsella is suitable for women postnatally to strengthen a weakened pelvic floor and reduce symptoms of urinary incontinence, but we believe it is incredibly useful as a preventative treatment pre-pregnancy, and as we’ve discussed in this blog the start of your pelvic floor journey begins in the bedroom, all the incredible benefits having a strong pelvic floor gives you when you’re between the sheets.
Look out for our next blog which will explore the Role of the Pelvic Floor in Pregnancy & Birth.
If you would like to discuss your pelvic floor with our of our trained clinicians, get in touch with us on 01628 308060 or email hello@springwellclinic.co.uk, to arrange a consultation or book online using our online booking system.