Contraction Quality is the first indicator you should monitor while doing pelvic floor training. It's the basics!
It's important to start off with this one to make sure that you'll be able to train:
Effectively because it's about learning the technique before getting into training, just like at the gym! It's equivalent to working with your physiotherapist on what a good pelvic floor contraction is.
Safely because the pressure felt from your pelvic floor's contractions (green arrows) needs to be higher than the intra-abdominal pressure (red arrows) so that the pelvic floor is able to support the pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, rectum, bowel).
The Contraction Quality computed by Perifit Care is the % of contractions during games that were of good form.
A score of 97% means that 97% of your pelvic floor's contractions were of good form.
Key ideas about Contraction Quality
It's the game-changer you're looking for
That's what most of our users tell us.
The feedback we've been getting the most to the question "What was key to your success in improving your symptoms?" is "Learning the proper pelvic floor contraction method".
Alternatively, the most popular reply to the question "What could we do to help you more?" is "Teach the proper pelvic floor contraction method".
Many users spent weeks frustrated because they only saw little improvement in their symptoms. When they started to invest time into monitoring their contraction quality in the Practice Lab or through the Kegel Coach, they immediately saw steady improvements in all other indicators.
Think of it like exercise at the gym. Professional trainers will always invest time to teach you the proper movement technique before letting you train. They know that it's under-effective to put a lot of effort into training if you don't have the correct movement.
There are multiple ways to get there
Physiotherapists & midwives have hundreds of images that they use to help their patients get the "Oh that's it" moment. It's different from one to the other. Here are a few examples that have been found helpful when trying to make people feel what a pelvic floor contraction should feel like:
Squeeze your vagina like you are trying to stop the flow of urine.
Squeeze your vagina like you are trying to inhale through a straw in your vagina
Squeeze your vagina like you are trying to squeeze a grape inside
But you can also use the oldest trick (clean your hands before doing this):
Put your thumb, facing downward (nail up!), at the entrance of your vagina. Start completely relaxed. The best position to start completely relaxed is laying down.
Try to use the above mental image to squeeze your vagina. You should feel pressure in the lower part of your vaginal entrance (under your thumb).
Does that help? There are many more ways or tricks to help people reach this pelvic floor contraction technique. Feel free to browse online or ask your physiotherapist about this.
Tips to work on Contraction Quality
Use the Kegel Coach offered in the Exercises tab to refine your Contraction Quality. The Kegel Coach explains with words and visuals what a pelvic floor contraction should feel like and then make your practice live.
Use the Picasso Game
Use the Practice Lab offered in the Exercises tab if you feel like training with Biofeedback only (rather than games). It's more complicated to get a good view of your contraction quality in games at first.
Use the Contraction Quality Meter. It's displayed in both Games and Practice Lab, usually located in the lower-right corner of your screen. The needle shows:
Green: you're performing good quality contractions: the pressure sensed from your pelvic floor is higher than the pressure sensed from your abdominals.
Orange: your contraction quality could be better. You are both contracting your pelvic floor and using a few of your abs.
Red: the pressure sensed from your abdominals is higher than the pressure sensed from your pelvic floor.
Top games pick to work on Contraction Quality
Games will help you practice what you've learned but to refine your contraction quality technique, the Kegel Coach and Practice Lab are your best options.
Exercise in Practice Lab to practice Contraction Quality
Start relaxed. Take your time if you need to. Pay attention to the Contraction Quality Meter during these exercises.
Contract your pelvic floor slowly and gradually. You should aim for the green line to move up and for the red line to remain below the green one.
Release slowly & progressively, making sure that the red line still remains below the green one. Take a 10 seconds break.
Repeat as many times as you need to. If possible, you can also aim for the red line to stay as low as possible.
I've read all this but I still have difficulties to get a better contraction quality...
Pelvic floor training is one of the least intuitive muscle training, no worries. You might be impacted by ...:
Fatigue! A pelvic floor is a muscle group that fatigues pretty quickly and is impacted by general fatigue as well. Specialists recommend that you do not train more than 30/45 minutes a week, split into sessions of 10-15 minutes. If your pelvic floor is tired, it won't be able to perform proper contractions and your body is likely to compensate with intra-abdominal pressure. In this case, rest is the key! Take a few days break and come back to training later.
The surface you're training on: if the surface you are training on is not stable, your body will probably require some abdominal pressure to remain still or look at the screen. We recommend training on a flat or rather stable surface.
The position you're training in: when you train while standing up, your body has to work against gravity to retain the Perifit Care. If your pelvic floor is healthy and strong, you'll be able to contract more strongly than the pressure of your abs to retain the Perifit Care but... it's challenging! And won't come in a day. It's possible that during the first training, your body uses a lot of abs to "suck in" Perifit Care.
Prolapse: when one or more pelvic organs prolapse, it falls into the vaginal canal, applying a pressure that is sensed by the deep sensor (located at the top of Perifit Care) and is working against your pelvic floor. If this is your case, do your best. At first, you'll probably have difficulties controlling the intra-abdominal pressure but don't despair. It will come and get better with consistent training.
If all our tips do not help, it might be a good idea to book an appointment with a pelvic floor specialist. She'll be able to draw a full diagnosis with you and usually have a broad set of tips to offer. What's more, they usually know about Perifit Care and will be able to give you tips to get the maximum benefits of its use.