Were you aware of that?
A few years ago we were at a function and met a lovely woman who introduced herself as a Pelvic Health Physiotherapist. Leigh and I being particularly bright, replied "oh, like vagina physio?" What we went on to learn that night has stayed with us for years: It turns out involuntarily peeing your pants is NOT okay. We are not speaking from a social standpoint, where walking around with urine-soaked pants is frowned upon. This is strictly medical -- your vagina should not leak. Think of your vagina like a basement foundation, any leak is bad; small, medium or large.
This news came as a surprise to us, suddenly our futures seemed brighter knowing they would be drier. Unfortunately, we did nothing with the information. We did not schedule an appointment, instead we sat with the information and our leaky vaginas, and every time we skipped, jumped or danced we thought to ourselves, "I should get this shit sorted".
Fast forward to this summer. We finally mustered up the courage and went to PhysioExcellence in Toronto. We answered a lot of questions about when we pee, how often we pee, and is anything causing us pain. After the questionnaire, we had our posture and breathing scrutinized, which was very enlightening.
Then we got down to the nitty-gritty, which involved an internal examination. A pap smear is nothing compared to this. Imagine cleaning your car; an exterior automated wash is what a pap test is. The examination that ensued at our initial visit was like taking your car in for a full-detail service. You get to know your vagina. You leave thinking, my relationship with my vagina has changed forever, for the better. Shit gets real. And why shouldn't it? Vaginas are bad-ass.
To continue with the oversharing, we both are suffering from different degrees of prolapsed bladders. We both enjoy very active lifestyles, and were gobsmacked when we were put on a rather restrictive exercise diet; no heavy weights, skipping, jumping and dancing. There is good news: If we are diligent and do our exercises to strengthen our pelvic floors, we can have our restrictions lifted and resume our full-blown workout regimes.
Kegels are not the answer. Our exercises involve belly breathing that our therapist taught us, now we are in the midst of perfecting the art of picking up blueberries with our vagina and anus. When we were first instructed to "pick up blueberries" we looked at her blankly and asked "what?". Luckily, it was not meant literally. We have to imagine picking up a blueberry, with our vagina, and pulling it up. There was a lot of time spent on doing this correctly-no wonder we pee.
We could go on, but perhaps that is enough for today. What you should do is make an appointment and get to know your vagina better. If you're considering children go now, BEFORE you get pregnant.
Cheers to a dry future.
L&M
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