So I was reading the news and came across an article about new guidelines that girls as young as 12 should be taught pelvic floor exercises at school based on the findings of a health organization. As I started researching more I learned that pelvic floor dysfunction affects thousands of women each year. We all know that as we get older, these vessels need all the love and support we can give them so I wanted to give mine a fighting chance.
I had been seeing ads for Perifit and thought I should check it out. I’m especially a fan of anything that can help gamify exercise and make it not just work but fun.
The Sun reported that “The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK recommended that girls aged 12 to 17 could be given lessons about the pelvic floor, as an addition to classes on sex and relationships. They could also be taught that exercise and a balanced diet can help prevent dysfunction, the guidelines suggest. It also puts forward that women of all ages should be encouraged to do muscle training exercises.
Up to 140,000 women could benefit from this each year, the watchdog estimates. Pelvic floor dysfunction covers a variety of symptoms including urinary and fecal incontinence, emptying disorders of the bladder or bowel, pelvic organ prolapse, sexual dysfunction, and chronic pelvic pain. Prof Gillian Leng, chief executive of NICE, said: “Pelvic floor dysfunction is a common and often debilitating set of symptoms that can result in many issues for women.”
Perifit is a Kegel exercise device that lets you control video games with your pelvic floor. These games were designed by health professionals to bring you the perfect kegel workout. After seeing the report about pelvic floor exercises, I decided why not get preventative? If this is something that affects so many and can be prevented, why wait and see?
Perifit is intended for therapeutic use in the treatment of sexual dysfunction or as an adjunct to Kegel exercises which are contractions of the pelvic floor muscles to increase muscle tone. I have seen many different tools for aiding in kegel exercises but apparently, studies have found that almost 30% of women perform Kegel exercises that are inaccurate and potentially damaging. With this device, you can actually see your performance on your screen in real-time.
During this time when it can seem like we are going backward, it is important that we do not overlook important health discussions because they fall under sexual health. So I decided to order one and give it a try!
The device is a small probe that is fairly easy to place by following directions. The app definitely helps walk you through the process and getting the device connected. From there it’s just different games that unlock as you play. This is great because the games are fun and there is a nice variety so it doesn’t get boring. It’s also set up nicely so that with 2 or 3 games, you’ve usually completed your workout for the day which is a great pre-bed routine for me. I don’t always get to it every day but I have been doing it often enough that I have started to notice a difference in my control when I go to the restroom. I have also noticed that the exercises are getting easier and that I am scoring new highs in the games. I appreciate that the app also shows you that you are getting stronger as you progress. I actually wasn’t really sure what to expect when I decided to give this a try or when I agreed to review it. Don’t know that I’ve ever talked about my vagina in an article before but I think that this device is something that women of all ages should be playing with at home. It’s a great preventative measure for our sexual health and I plan to have a long healthy and happy relationship with my vagina and think that this device will be a great aid in that.
