Pleasure, Sexuality and Pelvic Floor
Welcome to a new episode of our “Pelvic Floor and Where To Find It” Series! This episode is fully dedicated to pleasure and sexuality.
Index:
Pleasure and pelvic floor
The benefits of having orgasms
Sex toys and pelvic floor
What kind of toys are good for the pelvic floor?
So far in our pelvic floor series you should have a clear idea that almost everything that happens in our gential area is linked to the pelvic floor; pleasure makes no exceptions.
If this is the first article you read on pureeros on the pelvic floor topic, I suggest you start from the first ones of this series.
Pleasure is a fundamental aspect of our lives as well as sexuality is central for human beings; sometimes, especially for womxn, it is difficult to reach an orgasm. We don’t like to look at sex in a performative way - making the climax the ultimate goal of sex - but we know experiencing it is beautiful and healthy. Sometimes our difficulties are linked to the status of our pelvic floor.
Pleasure and pelvic floor
Our clitoris is embraced by two muscles in our pelvic area; in order to be stimulated, our clioris needs blood flow and muscolar contractions. If we have a hypertonic pelvic floor, rather than being supported and flexible, our clitoris will be restrained and not well nurtured by our pelvic muscles, making it way more difficult to experience an orgasm. If your pelvic floor is hypotonic (loose), our clitoris will not be able to feel a proper stimulation, getting us to the same result.
If you find it difficult to reach the orgasm, have your pelvic floor checked!
The benefits of having orgasms
Orgasms are a fantastic way to take care of your pelvic muscles - on top of the several benefits pleasure brings to our health.
When getting to the climax our blood circulates much faster in the tissues around our genitals, nurturing them and contributing to a better tone as well as lubrication.
Orgasms are good for your pelvic floor also because the contractions we experience during pleasure and the relaxation after, are a perfect example of training our pelvic muscles; plus contractions we enjoy during the orgasm help us in being aware of our pelvic floor and “feel” it.
Among the benefits of pleasure there is stress-relief; hormones we release during climax are opposed to the ones caused by stress, which is great for our wellness but also to help relaxing our pelvic muscles.
Sex toys and pelvic floor
When we discuss pleasure we should include toys in the conversation; when we discuss pleasure we also should include the pelvic floor. It’s way more difficult to link toys to the pelvic floor - but Anna and I are here to smash taboos, so let’s discuss sex toys and pelvic health.
Toys can be used during pelvic floor training/physical therapy. Anna incorages her patients to discover the world of toys and she also uses them during sessions to help people experiencing different ways to stimulate the pelvic floor as well as reduce pain or relax the muscles.
What kind of toys are good for the pelvic floor?
If you are not familiar with sex toys and you want to have a better idea on the main features, shapes and uses, you can read my first time guide to toys.
We have to start by saying that there is no toy that is perfect for everyone, we can use external toys as well as the ones for penetration depending on our objective as soon as we follow some very important criteria, to avoid the risk of damaging our pelvic floor:
- Toys must be body safe. Sadly, the intimate wellness industry is still unregulated on this so at pureeros we have set up special protocols and criteria to select only products that are safe for the body. More details here.
- Avoid toys that are too heavy. Materials like ceramic or stone give a very nice experience (you can also heat them up) but they are usually very heavy. When using those toys, be sure you always hold them and that you do it while lying in bed. If you are thinking about yoni eggs, we recommend not using them to train your pelvic floor. If you like to try them for pleasure, be sure you don’t wear them for longer than 10 min.
- Avoid toys that are too big. Especially if we are talking about anal toys. When ejoying anal sex, we shouldn’t feel discomfort and we have to avoid using objects with a diameter bigger than 3/4cm. Always hold the plug or dildo if you are using one made of stone to avoid damaging your pelvic floor.
- Toys with heating up function are great to relax your muscles and also treat discomfort (they are great when we experience UTIs).
- Avoid using home-made toys. We know body safe toys might be a bit expensive (you can find great ones at just £50) but self-made toys with objects we find around the house are not safe for your pelvic floor (aka toothbrush, deodorants, veggie etc) as they might break inside, be dirty, be too hard etc.
- Clean your toys. This is a must every time we are dealing with a toy; no matter if just for pleasure or to treat the pelvic floor. STIs can be transmitted via toys (if you share them with someone else) as well as bacteria if you use them alone but you don’t clean them properly after each use. Remember also to always avoid using toys in your anus and then into the vagina; the toy has to be properly clean not to damage your vaginal flora.
Flexible, thin and long toys are ideal for the treatment of trigger points (as Cici) as well as external toys are good if you experience pain during penetration (as Kip or Ohnut). You can choose the toy you like, just be sure it respects the requirements mentioned above!
+ Discover the best toys
Last but not least, Anna wants to remind you that ben wa balls, kegel balls or geisha balls are not good tools for pelvic floor physiotherapy. We have discussed this in depth in the episode about pelvic floor treatments, you can find it here.