Improve your pelvic health by doing more than just kegels

Sealed Lips is Mashable’s series on pelvic pain, an experience rarely discussed but shockingly common.

When I first started experiencing pelvic pain, the worry that I was alone exacerbated the anguish. No one talked about it, whether in real life or in the corners of the internet I frequented.

What I discovered as I sought out treatment, however, was that my assumption was certainly not the case; my doctor told me that half the population, no matter their gender, may experience pelvic pain in their lifetime. And that there were an increasing number of resources to help.

One such resource is Pelvic Gym, an online platform with videos led by pelvic health experts. You can sign up for a 14-day free trial and afterward it’s $10 per month. 

Over the last year and a half I’ve undergone many treatments for pelvic pain — from physical therapy to Botox — so I decided to try Pelvic Gym out to see if I found it helpful. While Pelvic Gym isn’t a substitute for doctor-guided care, it’s a valuable resource for those with pelvic pain or even just those who want to know more about their pelvic health.

What is Pelvic Gym?

Emily Sauer, founder of the Ohnut wearable to help relieve painful penetration during vaginal or anal sex, started Pelvic Gym during the COVID-19 pandemic. She told Mashable earlier this year that sheltering in place highlighted the divide between pelvic floor physical therapists and the population that needed their assistance as patients were stuck at home.

Ohnut customers were reaching out to Sauer’s team for exercises to help alleviate pelvic dysfunction. Not only was pain being compounded by pandemic-related stress, people couldn’t physically go to PT offices for help.

Sauer reached out to experts in her network to create educational and exercise videos, and Pelvic Gym was born.

Sauer initially wanted to provide an accessible resource at a time when seeking in-office medical care was difficult. But beyond pandemic limitations, such care may not be accessible due to health insurance plans that may not cover physical therapy or for folks who don’t have health insurance at all.

At time of publication, Pelvic Gym featured content from 20 different physical therapists and doctors, including Amanda Olson, the creator of Intimate Rose pelvic tools. There are 16 programs in the form of curated sets of videos, with topics ranging from pregnancy to painful sex to bladder and bowel problems. According to the site’s FAQ page, at least eight new videos are uploaded every month. While anyone can experience pelvic pain, the current programs are aimed toward people with vaginas.

Up in the Pelvic Gym, workin on my fitness

There is one fitness program currently on the site that I thought would be most relevant to me when starting Pelvic Gym: “Healthy Pelvis 101.” These videos detail how to self assess your pelvic floor strength and mobility, and explain how different conditions feel.

I found them useful — but they do warn that viewers should check in with their PT to better discern their individual situation. I highly recommend that as well. Although physical therapy experts design the online classes, your personal PT will have more experience recognizing and diagnosing your individual issues. Still, it can be frustrating to use this program if you can’t access a PT only to be told you need one.

There are other exercise videos, too. They include yoga positions to help the pelvic floor for different scenarios, such as when sitting down causes you pain or you have bladder problems.

I tried exercises for a tight pelvic floor and found some relief. I did notice some of them required equipment I didn’t have, like a tennis ball — though they also offered substitutions, like balled-up socks.

Pelvic Gym includes programs for the third trimester of pregnancy and the postpartum period, as well, which are common times for pelvic issues to arise. As I’ve never been pregnant, though, I didn’t try them.

A video on sex positions within Pelvic Gym’s “Painful Sex: Deep” program.
Credit: pelvic gym

Beyond yoga videos

In addition to exercise videos, Pelvic Gym also has strictly educational content. My favorite program in Pelvic Gym overall was one called “What’s Actually Happening During Sex?”, which teaches the viewer about arousal, sex, and how both impact the body.

U.S. sex education is lacking in so many ways, and this series made me realize I didn’t even know what happens physically when people get horny — or, rather, what happens to people with vaginas.

Some of my other favorites on Pelvic Gym were its meditations. When I reviewed Curable, an app for chronic pain, I learned the connection between the brain and pain and how meditation can help (at least somewhat). I was happy to see such exercises on this platform. There’s a “Wind Down” program chock full of meditation videos, from a sound bath to one that can be done in an office chair.

Should I join Pelvic Gym?

If you’re undergoing pelvic pain treatment or merely want to learn more about your pelvis, I recommend trying Pelvic Gym out. Your first two weeks are free, and if you choose to pay for it, it’s equivalent to the cost of around two coffees a month. There’s already a good amount of content on there, but the fact that eight or more videos are added per month is pretty enticing too.

Should you go through all the content and no longer want to pay the $10 per month, you can cancel the membership at any time, according to the FAQ.

Pelvic Gym is nowhere near as helpful as personalized physical therapy treatment, but it’s not trying to be. It’s best, in my opinion, as a supplementary education platform that can give people language to describe their pain and further understand their body.

Sauer acknowledges that folks come to Pelvic Gym when there’s a problem, but hopes one day it expands to those who’ll use it as preventative care.

“The catalyst that gets people to come to Pelvic Gym is when something is wrong,” she said, “but hopefully…as there’s a larger paradigm shift around pelvic health and education, people don’t have to wait until something’s wrong to go to Pelvic Gym.”

Like Curable, Pelvic Gym is a tool to add to your pelvic treatment arsenal, but it’s not going to be the only fix. In my experience, chronic pain doesn’t have a quick solution anyway.

Overall, Pelvic Gym accomplishes Sauer’s goal of making pelvic health education more accessible — and it’s another reminder to those with pain that there’s support out there.

Read more about pelvic pain