Is It Time to Restore The Floor ?

The Innovo Review

When I was a young student nurse, I did a placement on urology and saw this poem

To tone those muscles down below,

Remember this poem when you go.

When taking a visit to the loo,

This is what you should do.

Take a seat and start to go,

Then stop and hold it in mid-flow.

Repeat three or four times more,

And think of benefit to your pelvic floor.

If you’re in a pregnant state,

Do not think you can’t “relate”.

If we don’t keep up our nagging,

You may find your muscles sagging.

By looking after your pelvic floor,

The enjoyment of sex is so much more.

With those muscles nice and tight,

This will add to your delight!

So, don’t forget to stop and start,

Use your head, be really smart.

Continue for life and don’t forget,

When you’re older, you won’t regret!

At the time I remember thinking that sounds easy, and occasionally did a little pause mid flow (warning – this post may contain a little over sharing!) and thought that would be enough to keep me  nice and ‘in shape’, that was until I had my first child, I vividly remember the Physio coming round to each bed and thrusting a Pelvic Floor Exercises leaflet at each of us, for all of you who have had a child, i’m sure you will agree that is not THE most important thing on your mind, just remembering to have a wash and clean your teeth are hard enough!

A few days after giving birth I literally felt like my entire insides had fallen out, so I did the obligatory mirror down there and no longer did it resemble the perfect female organ, (bet you thought I was going to say the V word!) more like a car crash!

This made me realise that the Pelvic floor is VERY important if you want to avoid little wee accidents when you cough or jump on the trampoline ( a necessity with children!)

As you can imagine after having seven natural births, I am sure my Pelvic Floor is shocking, and no amount of lifting and squeezing is going to help. That was, until I was introduced to the Innovo, a completely non invasive device that does all the hard work for you, it is very difficult to explain, this video will explain it so much better than me…(and no-one wants to see me in my underwear!)

Setting Up The Innovo.

It took me a couple of attempts to get the pads in the right place, warning they are super sticky and do resemble a salon wax when taking them off, so ensure you do it slowly. If they are not in the right place the very clever device will tell you and flash which pad is not on properly.

Once they are all on correctly you start to increase the intensity, the normal starting level is between 30-40, mine was 60 so not sure if it just means i’m hardcore or I need LOTS of help…To begin with the pins and needles feeling travels through the front of your legs and thighs, you know its in the right place when you feel it move between your legs, it is a very strange sensation to start with and it does make you question how on earth you would be able to squeeze and lift at this intensity!

The 30 minute workout.

The session lasts for 30 minutes, it pulses for 5 seconds and then releases for 5, I found that I was challenging myself to increase the intensity each time, the great thing about it is that as it is on/off throughout the 30  inutes, it never really feels like it is hard work (the fact that you actually don’t have to do anything may have something to do with it!) I must admit for the first couple of days I felt like I had been horse riding as your immediate reaction is to tense everything, my husband did comment it was doing strange things to my bum! It certainly opened my eyes to exactly how big the pelvic floor is, no wonder we need to keep it toned, it reaches so much further than just where the baby and wee come out!

You can do the session standing up or lying down, so depending on what time of the day or night I did it determined where I was placed, either standing reading emails or lying watching a film, there really is no excuse not to do it, as it can be done whilst us super women multi task, I didn’t quite manage cooking whilst doing it, but I had considered it!

My Thoughts On The Innovo After 12 weeks

The Innovo is recommended to be used 5 days in 7, as the muscle like every other needs a little rest, after 12 weeks of use, I can honestly say it is THE best product I have ever tried in terms of difference to me, I am not quite at the stage of being able to shoot ping pongs out of there, but well on the way and I don’t think I will be requiring Tena Ladies at least for another 30 years, I feel much more confident when I am in a laughing or coughing state, that I won’t immediately have to dash to the toilet, I haven’t actually asked my husband if he has noticed the difference as that would be way too much information, but I am pretty sure I haven’t had any complaints!

I shall continue to use the Innovo as I think there is still a little way to go, I am never going to have the pre birth looking or functioning ‘down there’ but it is certainly on its way to being the way I want it to be.

If you are a woman (or man) that is suffering with urinary leaks or bladder weakness, then this is definitely the product for you.

“I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity.”