15 minutes with: Sara Reardon, DPT, WCS, talk about the power of the pelvic floor and the problem with how we pee

Sara Reardon, also known as ‘The Vagina Whisperer’, is very vocal online about the importance of the Health of Women’s Health Since 2017. And with more than 680,000 followers and 13 million views on social media – people listen.

“The account has grown organically and I think that is a real proof of how many women really want this information about their pelvic floor – and they don’t get it elsewhere,” said Reardon.

As a physiotherapist of a pelvic floor, Reardon helps women to strengthen, relax and rehabilitate the muscles and tissues in the body’s pelvic area. Problems with the pelvic floor and weakening the muscles can cause a wide range of problems, such as bladder leakage and the inability to an orgasm. So yes – really important things.

Reardon speaks all pelvic floor in her new book, Floored: A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at any age and stage. “The real mission behind The vagina whisper And also writing the book was that everyone should know about the pelvic floor. We get period – education and sex education – we have to follow pelvic floor education because we are more vulnerable to pelvic floor issues such as women. So that is really my goal – to help relieve people and not to normalize the problems, but to normalize the conversation, “said Reardon.

We talked to Reardon about how you can take care of your pelvic floor (hint: it is more than cones) and the right way to pee. (Spoiler: Many of us have done it all wrong.)

Our interview follows, edited for clarity and length.

Healthywomen: We are big fans of the name “The Vagina Whisperer.” Tell us how it started.

Sara Reardon: Every summer after the graduate school I would come together with my group of friends and we would hang out during the fourth July weekend. On a summer we all hung around and I was finally in a hot tub with a couple of mothers of my friends, and I spoke with them about aging and their bladder problems and vagina problems – and my friends were of: “Oh my God, Sara is the vagina whisperer!” And so they came with the name.

A few years later I started my Instagram account, the Vagina Whisperer, and it was really for my group of friends because we were pregnant and all had babies, and they would constantly ask me what they should do for pregnancy exercises. So I said, I’m just going to put it on Instagram so that everyone can see it, and it’s when you need it. And that was the start of the vagina whisperer.

2024 (Photo/Sarah Becker)

Healthywomen: Congratulations on your new book, Floored: A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at any age and stage. What is the most important thing that women have to keep in mind with regard to the health of the pelvic floor?

Sara Reardon: Although all genera have a pelvic floor, women go through different hormonal fluctuations every month and experience pregnancy, postpartum and menopause – and all those phases of life influence our pelvic floor and women run the risk of pelvic floor problems.

Pregnancy can stretch and weaken the pelvic floor, and we have no standardization for rehabilitation for women after birth as you would do after other operations. In the menopause you have less estrogen, testosterone and collagen – all those things are in danger to more pelvic floor problems, usually weakness and sometimes even tension or pain.

Healthywomen: You tap -post that women told not to push when you pee, went viral with more than 10 million views. Were you surprised how many people said they did it all wrong? And what is your advice to break the habit if you insist to pee (to ask a friend)?

Sara Reardon: I am surprised, but it is also the reason why I do what I do. I think it’s really important for people to know that. And I have posted, no longer insist 50 times before, and then you see that millions of people are still learning. But we have never been taught – when do we teach people how to pee? My advice: peeing if you have the urge to pee – do not go in case. And not too much delay. Sometimes people hold it for hours, but that can make your pelvic floor muscles too much.

Always sit down to pee so that you don’t float. That will help your pelvic floor muscles to relax better, so that you don’t have to tension or push. And if you pee, you don’t have to push – your bladder has a muscle that actually pushes the urine for you.

I say that your feet put flat on the floor and lean forward on your elbows and just breathe a little. Breathing can help your pelvic floor muscles relax.

Read: 15 minutes with: Ashley Winter, MD, Talks Urology, Sex and All Things Vaginas >>

Healthywomen: I recently learned that hovering is bad for you.

Sara Reardon: I can’t tell you how many people are like: “Sara, every time I pee, I think of you”, and I am so much, do you know what that means? I do my job well and that is really what I want. I just want people to be aware of what they do, because these small changes really go a long way. And it’s the same with pooping. Place a stool under your feet so that your muscles are more relaxed and you are in a squatted position and breathe out when you push instead of holding your breath to have a bowel movement.

The thing is, many people know that women who are pregnant and postpartum are menopausal or with a higher risk of pelvic floor issues, but you can develop these problems at any age.

Healthywomen: Another recent message from you says that you now have to prioritize your pelvic floor, so that your organs do not stick out of your vagina later (pelvic gestation). What is your go-to exercise or tip for women to avoid this?

Sara Reardon: It is actually more of a lifestyle. If you have a prolapse of pelvic organs, those pelvic floor muscles do not support your organs either. So your bladder, your womb, your cervix, your intestines can fall into the vaginal channel and it feels like something is in your vagina or something falls out of your vagina. The biggest thing is not to make an effort. You can do exercises and cones until the cows come home, but if you are exciting – push when you pee – or if you are exciting during constipation or pooping – all that pressure pushes down again and again and create the weakness of these muscles and subsidence.

Stop tensioning and start reinforcement. These muscles are like any other muscle in your body – they must be able to contract and they must also be able to relax.

Healthywomen: Are cones good for your pelvic floor?

Sara Reardon: Yes, if you have weakness. But what is interesting is that a lot, many women have tension. So, just like any other muscle or body, it can be weak and must be strengthened, but it can also be really tight and tense. Consider how you get tension in your shoulders, and that gives you the feeling that you need a massage. It is the same in your pelvic floor muscles. Those muscles can be tight and tense and they relax well, and that can cause you to have your urine flow or difficulty with bowel movements.

It can also cause pain with sex, hip pain and low back pain – different things – because those muscles can even lead to problems such as leakage and subsidence, because if they are tight and tense, they cannot contract well.

What is really important is, before you start a reinforcing regime, to know if you have weakness and you have to strengthen, or whether you have tension and first have to work on that tension. Once that tension is relieved, then you might have some weakness underneath.

The other thing with cones – it’s not like a one -size fits all recipe. There are different types of cones. So there are fast contractions where you squeeze and relax, and then there are longer contractions where you hold five, 10 or 20 seconds. And those are the endurance muscular fibers that we really have to work. So fast cones and longer cones and ensure that you fully relax and then also do them in different positions.

Healthywomen: What are your opinion about the pelvic floor trainer devices?

Sara Reardon: I think they can play a role. For some people who have difficulty knowing if they are doing a pelvic floor contraction well or relax well, they can be useful. But once you start working in standing or with movement and squats and lunges and lifting – you can’t really wear those devices. So I think they can be a useful place to get started, but to leave them over time.

Healthywomen: As a pelvic floor therapist, you can arrange the debate: is it okay to pee in the shower?

Sara Reardon: Yes, it’s great to pee in the shower. I think one of the misunderstandings here is that peeing in the shower is completely good, but if you turn on the shower and create the urgency to pee, it is a sign of overactive bladder that can be helped with pelvic floor therapy. So it is great to pee in the shower, and I think it is really really handy.

2021 (Photo/Sarah Becker)

Healthywomen: On the homepage of your website you wear a vulva costume – we assume that it is couture. Do you wear it around the French neighborhood in New Orleans where you live?

Sara Reardon: I bought that costume online for $ 100 dollars in 2018! The store is closed and I tried to contact them many times, many times without a response. It’s the only one I have, so I don’t wear it in public – I don’t want anyone to spill beer on it or something bad happens with it. So it is tucked away in my closet. My children get it out from time to time and they are: “Here’s hot dog costume, Mom!”