Are you SUFFERING in silence?

If you broke your arm, you’d visit the doctor.

And if you had a health problem that caused you daily discomfort, stopped you exercising, socialising and even impacted your relationship, you’d do the same, wouldn’t you?

Shockingly, the answer isn’t always yes.

One in three women will suffer from pelvic floor problems during their lifetime and 50 per cent of women will experience urinary incontinence.

However, only one in five women will seek help.

Myra Robson is a senior pelvic health physiotherapist, creator of the Squeezy app, and co-founder of the physiotherapy-led campaign, Pelvic Roar.

She says: ‘It’s one of Britain’s biggest health taboos and one that urgently needs to be broken. On average it takes a woman seven years to seek help.

‘For many, this is because of embarrassment, but there’s also a huge issue with people normalising incontinence.

‘People wrongly assume they have to put up with it, but that’s not the case. Women need to know that while incontinence is common, it’s never normal and most importantly it’s treatable.’

In fact, with physiotherapy and pelvic floor exercises, there’s an 84 per cent success rate in treating stress incontinence.

Myra says: ‘On average it takes just 12 weeks to fix the majority of simple stress incontinence cases. Pelvic floor exercises are quick, easy and free to do, and investing just 10 minutes a day now could save years of future suffering.

‘There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain.’

Why it matters

Myra says: ‘Keeping our pelvic floor healthy reduces our risk of stress incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, which affects 50 per cent of women over 50.

‘But it doesn’t just affect our physical health — it impacts every area of our lives. For example, women who leak are less likely to exercise, which can lead to weight gain, which increases the risk of incontinence. It also impacts your self-esteem.

‘Some women feel too scared to even go to work. Their sex lives have deteriorated because they’ve lost confidence, and where they’re too embarrassed to confide in their partner, relationships can break down too.’

Yet Myra stresses that the importance of doing pelvic floor exercises isn’t just for the present.

She explains: ‘A weak pelvic floor raises the risk of falls with age, as you can’t get to the toilet in time. This can be very serious for an elderly person.

‘What seems like a minor inconvenience when you’re 35 is going to have far greater ramifications when you’re 80, frail and less mobile.’

What to do

Childbirth, being overweight, regular heavy-lifting, taking part in high-impact sports, chronic constipation and menopausal changes can all play havoc with the strength of our pelvic floor, leading to weakness or incontinence.

Myra says: ‘As a first step, use an evidence-based pelvic floor exercise plan, such as the one on the Squeezy app, doing exercises three times a day to prevent problems and six times a day if you have symptoms.

‘However, if after a week you can’t feel the muscles contracting, you need to pluck up the courage to go and see your GP. If you’re not doing the contractions correctly, you can make things worse.

‘If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to someone face-to-face, ask for a telephone appointment. Most people find once you get talking about your issues, the embarrassment quickly subsides.

‘Alongside physiotherapy, other things that can help include keeping a healthy weight, avoiding getting constipated, quitting smoking, cutting back on caffeine and doing appropriate exercise — building up slowly, so as to not cause your pelvic floor mischief.

‘For women going through the menopause, oestrogen cream may also help.’

Myra says the most important thing is to talk about pelvic health and share our learning.

‘Only then,’ she says, ‘can we increase awareness, reduce the stigma and empower the millions of women suffering in silence to get the help that they need.’

Edited by Stephanie May

For more info or to find a pelvic health physiotherapist, visit pelvicroar.org or squeezyapp.com