Women’s knowledge concerning pelvic floor muscles

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Pelvic floor muscles are among the most important muscle parts for women; they can also be linked with the level of sexual satisfaction derived by both partners and they can facilitate natural birth. Later in life, their weakness may lead to such problems as urinary and fecal incontinence, as well as lowering and prolapse of reproductive organs. For this reason, it is very important to maintain good condition of pelvic floor muscles by performing suitable exercises in a proper way. The purpose of this work was to determine the level of knowledge of women regarding pelvic floor muscles, as well as to analyze the relation between exercising and urinary incontinence, sexual satisfaction and frequency of experienced orgasms.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: 726 women were tested. During the study, the author used her own survey regarding pelvic floor muscles and experience related to exercising these muscle parts.

RESULTS: 80% of patients knew the location of the pelvic floor muscles and 73% were aware of their functions. However, only half of the patients ever exercised them. The most frequent method of exercising pelvic floor muscles involves their contracting. Moreover, the study showed that women who exercised their pelvic floor muscles climaxed more often during intercourse and felt higher satisfaction with their sexual life compared to women who never performed exercises of these muscle parts.

CONCLUSIONS: It is important to educate women regarding the structure, functions and the significance of pelvic floor muscles so that more women start performing these exercises. There is a need to apply precise education regarding how to effectively exercise these muscle parts.