How to tighten your pelvic floor

‘Over 40% of women with stress incontinence who do pelvic floor exercises for three months are cured,' says Dr Natalia Price. ‘And 70% can expect an improvement.'

So what's stopping us?

The problem is that many women can't locate the right muscles. ‘One in three can't contract their pelvic floor when asked,' says Riette Vosloo. If you're doing it right, your bum and thighs should stay relaxed and you should be able to feel the squeeze inside your vagina. If you can't, you need help, and there's lots of it available. You can sign up for Pilates, send off for a free DVD by expert physio Professor Kari Bo (from www.corewellness.co.uk) or try a pelvic floor exerciser, cones or electrical stimulation (£204 from www.athenafem.co.uk). Best of all, ask your GP to refer you to a women's health physiotherapist, who'll give you an internal exam and a tutorial - it costs nothing but courage.

Pelvic floor exercises

Follow this programme of exercises three times a day:

 ● Stand or sit with legs slightly apart and lift your pelvic floor inward, as if gripping a tampon.

● Start with 10 short ‘yo-yo' contractions, followed by 10 long squeezes, holding for five to 10 seconds, and finishing with another 10 short ones, to work all the relevant muscles.

● Relax your pelvic floor completely between each - it's as important as the contraction itself.

Pelvic floor exercises can't cure everyone, so if your problem is urge incontinence, try bladder training. See if you can hang on for three hours between loo visits. If you get desperate, do a few pelvic floor lifts to relax the bladder muscle.

Click here to learn more about urinary incontinence