I had stress urinary incontinence & a stage 3 Pelvic Organ Prolapse. I was unable to exercise or take long walks after the birth of my third child. If I took an exercise class, I would have to take breaks during the class and go to the bathroom. The biggest change was during my period, as I could not cough or sneeze without leaking, which basically made me house bound for almost a week every month.

 I felt numbness, and then pressure all day long that would worsen as the day went on depending on what I was doing. I felt like I had to go to the bathroom all the time, but when I did, I still did not get any sensation of relief when I did; it would only subside when I would lie down.

I was embarrassed to talk about my issue with anyone and just hoped my symptoms would subside by itself…. But this was not the case. In fact I felt things gradually getting worse as time went on then realized I needed to do something about it as I refused to continue living this way.

The first thing I did was consult my symptoms with a doctor. A few doctors said my symptoms were not that bad and another told me to just wear tampons which I did not want to do as sanitary products are made out of harmful materials such as carcinogens which are linked to cancer.

Another said I should just have an hysterectomy surgery. That should be a last resort and not something I was keen on doing as the surgery did not have a 100% success rate and there was a risk of making my problem worse due to complications.

I tried looking into physical therapy but this option was very expensive and the wait times for appointments were always so long. A pessary was another option but I was not comfortable with inserting a circular object up there and keeping it there.

So I was stuck with using pads and diapers for the meantime despite knowing how bad they are for the environment and how expensive they can be as I will be using them for as long as I have these uncontrollable leaks, which in my case looked like forever if I didn’t do anything about it.

After doing some further research, I found that there was also the option of doing kegels to strengthen my Pelvic Floor muscles as the root cause of prolapse and incontinence is a weak Pelvic Floor. Your Pelvic Floor typically weakens after pregnancy and the more children you have the more prone you are to developing the symptoms I had experienced.

Your Pelvic Floor muscles is shaped like a hammock which carries your bladder and reproductive organs together. It is a normal muscle like any other muscle in your body which needs resistance to grow and get stronger. The stronger they become, the less leaks you will experience.

However 1 in 2 women are unable to do kegels alone. And I was one of those women as I could not properly contract my Pelvic Floor muscles on its own and I did not see any improvement after a few weeks of doing them daily.

I started to feel helpless and frustrated with myself as I slowly began to accept this would be my life for good.

One day, I stumbled across this strange looking device which I have never seen before. It was a Pelvic Floor Exerciser created by Femvaults which acts as weights for your Pelvic Floor muscles whilst making kegels feel more tangible.

At this point I was desperate for a solution which was non-invasive and did not break the bank and this sounded exactly like that. I was skeptical about it but interested at the same time so I read more about the exerciser on their website.

I recalled from my research that 1 in 2 women were unable to do kegels alone. So Femvaults basically acts as the missing piece to enable women like myself to execute kegels with assistance.

Having an object just below your bottom in between your thighs which you can squeeze makes kegels easier to execute for those women who cannot do kegels alone. So this product sounded perfect for me as I was one of those women who needed assistance with my kegels.

I recall in my research, according to the national association of continence, strengthening your glutes and hamstrings adds additional support to your Pelvic Floor. So you are basically killing 2 birds with 1 stone with every single rep using this device.

Femvaults Pelvic Floor Exerciser is quite cumbersome which is what makes it effective however this may make it difficult for some people to use it properly. It may take a few attempts to get use to the movement but once you get the hang of it, gets easier and easier to use. Over time I noticed the exercise got easier and easier which was an indication that it was working and I noticed I was having less accidents! I became pretty much leak free after using it for 2 weeks daily.

Standing Practise

1. Place the trainer in between your thighs (3 - 6cm below your bottom).

2. Lead the contraction with the Pelvic Floor muscles followed by the glutes.

3. Hold for a couple of seconds then release.

4. Repeat for as many repetitions as you can until you can no longer do a full repetition.

5. Take a few seconds rest then continue with your repetitions. Repeat process for up to 5 minutes.

Kneeling Practise

• 1. With your feet open & your knees half bent, place the trainer so that the wings are pointing at your heels.
• 2. Lead the contraction with your Pelvic Floor muscles followed by the glutes.
• 3. Hold for a couple of seconds then release.

• 4. Repeat for as many repetitions as you can until you can no longer do a full repetition.

  5. Take a few seconds rest then continue with your repetitions. Repeat process for up to 5 minutes.

Bending Practise

• 1. Place the trainer inside of your hip while doing a plank, keeping your body parallel to the floor and the wings facing upwards.
• 2. Tilt your pelvis back while lifting the abdomen at the same time then squeeze with the Pelvic Floor, hold for a few seconds then release.

• 3.Repeat for as many repetitions as you can until you can no longer do a full repetition.

  4. Take a few seconds rest then continue with your repetitions. Repeat process for up to 5 minutes.

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Here is a video of myself using the exerciser whilst standing. Give it a wacth as it may help you to visulise yourself doing it!