An interesting day today - I met Heather at http://www.white-rabbit-edinburgh.com/ which is Edinburgh's newest, and nicest, adult shop.
Well, you could question how objective my opinion about the aesthetics of the shop is seeing as how the only other sex shop I've been in was in Amsterdam's Red Light District. I was working at the Women's Rugby World Cup back in Nineteen Canteen, and the gay women in the team sniggered as I pretended I wasn't out of my comfort zone every time they waved something extraordinary at me "you put that WHERE? And, that's supposed to be NICE?"
Anyhoo - vaginal cones and weights...let's compare the medical grade weighted cones that physiotherapists are familiar with recommending, and, ehm, stuff which is a whole lot more popular since That Book About Grey came out.
(there follows a whole lot of links - these are all safe for work and don't flag up our parental control on the computer. Click with confidence)
So, the big sellers of physio-friendly cones in the UK are these (http://www.kegel8.co.uk/kegel8-cones.html) from Kegel8, and these (http://www.aquaflex-cones.co.uk/) from Neen. They are different systems, but both are designed for you to start with the larger, lighter one and, as your strength and control improves, you progress to the smaller, heavier ones. They've got good research behind them, and, work a treat on pelvic floors which are simply weak (insert usual caveat about best practice is to get an assessment before starting any sort of exercising for your pelvic floor here)
Now, compare those with these adult toy ones available for sale from your female-friendly adult shop eg. www.sh_womenstore.com in UK - Lelo's luna beads (
http://www.lelo.com/index.php?collectionName=femme-homme&groupName=LUNA-BEADS) and je joue's ami (http://www.amazon.com/Je-Joue-Progressive-Pelvic-Weights/dp/B007V211NU) These are also progressive weight systems. Not medical grade, not designed with pelvic floors in mind, but the lovely ladies at Sh tell me that they sell lots of these to women who quietly ask "is this the thing that'll stop my leaking?"
And, that got me thinking - what is the difference from a rehabilitation point of view between these systems? And, I've concluded - not much.
Some women are mortified at the thought of buying something medical which
screams "Look at me buying something to help my incontinence!"...but, purchasing
something which whispers "Look at me, I'm all in touch with my sexuality" -
well, that's within their comfort zone, at least now that they've read That Awful Book.
The evidence is that #doyerblardyexercises is THE most effective way of strengthening your pelvic floor. But, you've got to actually do them, and, frankly, even I forget and I'm a fanjo evangelist.
I'm not aware of any research looking at whether compliance with #doyerblardyexercises increases after a woman makes a financial commitment to her pelvic floor - but, logic says that if she's spending £30 - £80 on something, well, she's going to try and get her money's worth.
Plus, all these gadgets can be used as you get on with your life. You don't need to spend half an hour devoting yourself to your pelvic floor and nothing else every day - you can bung these things in and do your exercises as you do the school run. Which improves compliance, we women are always multi-tasking...though, I suggest you make sure you are strong enough to retain the weight before you leave the house. I once saw something looking remarkably familiar lying in the cereal aisle of Sainsburys...and, no, it wisnae mine.
It's worth bearing in mind that none of these gadgets will have any effect at all if you just leave them lying in your knicker drawer - they are not magic wands.
And, that leads neatly on to the other big seller from adult shops - vibrators.
There is some evidence that applying vibration to a muscle as you exercise it enhances strengthening - that's where the idea for these vibration plates you see down the gym came from. Well, doesn't that suggest that #doyerblardyexercises with added vibration should be an effective way of strengthening the pelvic floor?
I'm not convinced it'll make much of a difference to the physiological process of building up those wee muscle fibres. But, I do think it might encourage some women to comply with their exercise regime...
Which makes me wonder why we physios bang on and on about continence. Because, your pelvic floor is REALLY important for your sexual function too - if your orgasms are weak, the chances are your muscles are too. We should bang on about, you know, banging on. Why don't we tell women "Look, if you are going to do it, you may as well enjoy it. So, #doyerblardyexercises, kai?"
Physios are not trained in sexual dysfunction as undergrads...but, the universal truth is that sex sells. And, I can't help but think that we should be (carefully) using that to market pelvic health.
Fiona Rogers is a clever physio who runs http://www.pelvicfloorexercise.com.au/index.htm in Australia, and she sells these weights I've mentioned. Which just goes to show that Great Minds...and that Australia is more forward thinking than the UK when it comes to
So, if you'd be interested in participating in a study looking at whether fiddling with your bits every day can fix your fallen fanjo, let me know. As soon as I can secure some funding, and find some volunteers for the control group - I'll send you something buzzy.
Well, you could question how objective my opinion about the aesthetics of the shop is seeing as how the only other sex shop I've been in was in Amsterdam's Red Light District. I was working at the Women's Rugby World Cup back in Nineteen Canteen, and the gay women in the team sniggered as I pretended I wasn't out of my comfort zone every time they waved something extraordinary at me "you put that WHERE? And, that's supposed to be NICE?"
Anyhoo - vaginal cones and weights...let's compare the medical grade weighted cones that physiotherapists are familiar with recommending, and, ehm, stuff which is a whole lot more popular since That Book About Grey came out.
(there follows a whole lot of links - these are all safe for work and don't flag up our parental control on the computer. Click with confidence)
So, the big sellers of physio-friendly cones in the UK are these (http://www.kegel8.co.uk/kegel8-cones.html) from Kegel8, and these (http://www.aquaflex-cones.co.uk/) from Neen. They are different systems, but both are designed for you to start with the larger, lighter one and, as your strength and control improves, you progress to the smaller, heavier ones. They've got good research behind them, and, work a treat on pelvic floors which are simply weak (insert usual caveat about best practice is to get an assessment before starting any sort of exercising for your pelvic floor here)
Now, compare those with these adult toy ones available for sale from your female-friendly adult shop eg. www.sh_womenstore.com in UK - Lelo's luna beads (
http://www.lelo.com/index.php?collectionName=femme-homme&groupName=LUNA-BEADS) and je joue's ami (http://www.amazon.com/Je-Joue-Progressive-Pelvic-Weights/dp/B007V211NU) These are also progressive weight systems. Not medical grade, not designed with pelvic floors in mind, but the lovely ladies at Sh tell me that they sell lots of these to women who quietly ask "is this the thing that'll stop my leaking?"
And, that got me thinking - what is the difference from a rehabilitation point of view between these systems? And, I've concluded - not much.
Some women are mortified at the thought of buying something medical which
screams "Look at me buying something to help my incontinence!"...but, purchasing
something which whispers "Look at me, I'm all in touch with my sexuality" -
well, that's within their comfort zone, at least now that they've read That Awful Book.
The evidence is that #doyerblardyexercises is THE most effective way of strengthening your pelvic floor. But, you've got to actually do them, and, frankly, even I forget and I'm a fanjo evangelist.
I'm not aware of any research looking at whether compliance with #doyerblardyexercises increases after a woman makes a financial commitment to her pelvic floor - but, logic says that if she's spending £30 - £80 on something, well, she's going to try and get her money's worth.
Plus, all these gadgets can be used as you get on with your life. You don't need to spend half an hour devoting yourself to your pelvic floor and nothing else every day - you can bung these things in and do your exercises as you do the school run. Which improves compliance, we women are always multi-tasking...though, I suggest you make sure you are strong enough to retain the weight before you leave the house. I once saw something looking remarkably familiar lying in the cereal aisle of Sainsburys...and, no, it wisnae mine.
It's worth bearing in mind that none of these gadgets will have any effect at all if you just leave them lying in your knicker drawer - they are not magic wands.
And, that leads neatly on to the other big seller from adult shops - vibrators.
There is some evidence that applying vibration to a muscle as you exercise it enhances strengthening - that's where the idea for these vibration plates you see down the gym came from. Well, doesn't that suggest that #doyerblardyexercises with added vibration should be an effective way of strengthening the pelvic floor?
I'm not convinced it'll make much of a difference to the physiological process of building up those wee muscle fibres. But, I do think it might encourage some women to comply with their exercise regime...
Which makes me wonder why we physios bang on and on about continence. Because, your pelvic floor is REALLY important for your sexual function too - if your orgasms are weak, the chances are your muscles are too. We should bang on about, you know, banging on. Why don't we tell women "Look, if you are going to do it, you may as well enjoy it. So, #doyerblardyexercises, kai?"
Physios are not trained in sexual dysfunction as undergrads...but, the universal truth is that sex sells. And, I can't help but think that we should be (carefully) using that to market pelvic health.
Fiona Rogers is a clever physio who runs http://www.pelvicfloorexercise.com.au/index.htm in Australia, and she sells these weights I've mentioned. Which just goes to show that Great Minds...and that Australia is more forward thinking than the UK when it comes to
So, if you'd be interested in participating in a study looking at whether fiddling with your bits every day can fix your fallen fanjo, let me know. As soon as I can secure some funding, and find some volunteers for the control group - I'll send you something buzzy.