Pelvic Floor Exercises

Posted on June 16, 2009 in Latest News

Pelvic floor exercises, also known as Kegel exercises, are useful for women for preventing urinary incontinence and are beneficial in many ways. These exercises tone the pelvic floor muscles – the muscles which support the bladder, uterus and bladder. Pregnant women, women with urinary incontinence and women who have difficulty reaching an orgasm can benefit from Pelvic floor exercises.

What is Need For Pelvic Floor Exercises?
A woman can go through several physical changes which can weaken the pelvic floor muscles. Pregnancy, childbirth obesity, aging etc. can all weaken the pelvic muscles. This can lead to urinary incontinence. In some cases, weak pelvic muscles can lead to pelvic organ prolapse – where the pelvic organs descend into the vagina. Pelvic exercises prevent this and can keep the muscles strong.

Pelvic floor exercises can be taught by a physiotherapist, specialist, or your healthcare provider. Once, you learn them, you can do these exercises while standing, sitting or lying down.

How to Do Pelvic Exercises?
Pelvic exercises consist of two steps:

* Identifying and contracting the pelvic floor muscles
* Contracting of pelvic floor muscles

Identifying the pelvic muscles:
To find out how to contract the pelvic floor muscles, you can try to stop the urine flow in the bathroom. In doing that you would be contracting your pelvic floor muscles. Another way is to insert a finger inside the vagina and make an effort to contract the muscles. This action should make the vagina tighten and the pelvic floor should have an upward movement. Make sure you do do Kegel exercises with an empty bladder.

Avoid stopping the urine on a regular basis as you can retain urine

Contracting the Pelvic Floor Muscles:
After identifying and knowing how to contract your pelvic floor muscles, you can practice the this technique. Do the following after emptying your bladder:

* Contract the pelvic floor muscles
* Keep the contraction of the muscles for about 3 seconds and then relax for 3 seconds
* Repeat this for 10 times

After practicing holding the pelvic floor muscles for 3 seconds, try to hold them 4 seconds and relaxing for 4 seconds. Do this until you reach a stage where you can hold for 10 seconds followed by 10 seconds of relaxation.

One set of Kegel Exercises consist of 10 contractions. Doing this for 3 times daily can strengthen your pelvic floor stronger.

Pelvic floor exercises can prevent urinary incontinence, and reduce the risks of urinary leakage during pregnancy or after childbirth. Do consult your healthcare provider to reap the full benefits of Kegel exercises.

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