Kegel exercises

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Female perineal anatomy

Kegel exercises are a series of pelvic muscle exercises designed to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor.

Pelvic muscle strengthening exercises; Pelvic floor exercises

Kegel exercises are recommended for:

• Women with urinary stress incontinence
• Some men who have urinary incontinence after prostate surgery
• People who have fecal incontinence

Kegel exercises can help strengthen the muscles under the uterus, bladder, and bowel (large intestine). They can help both men and women who have problems with urine leakage or bowel control.

A Kegel exercise is like pretending that you have to urinate, and then holding it. You relax and tighten the muscles that control urine flow. It's important to find the right muscles to tighten.

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The next time you have to urinate, start to go and then stop. Feel the muscles in your vagina, bladder, or anus get tight and move up. These are the pelvic floor muscles. If you feel them tighten, you've done the exercise right.

If you are still not sure whether you are tightening the right muscles. keep in mind that all of the muscles of the pelvic floor relax and contract at the same time. Because these muscles control the bladder, rectum, and vagina, the following tips may help:

• Women: Insert a finger into your vagina. Tighten the muscles as if you are holding in your urine, then let go. You should feel the muscles tighten and move up and down.
• Men: Insert a finger into your rectum. Tighten the muscles as if you are holding in your urine, then let go. You should feel the muscles tighten and move up and down.

It is very important that you keep the following muscles relaxed while doing Kegel exercises:

• Abdominal
• Buttocks
• Thigh

A woman can also strengthen these muscles by using a vaginal cone, which is a weighted device that is inserted into the vagina. Then you try to contract the pelvic floor muscles to hold the device in place.

If you are unsure whether you are doing the Kegel correctly, you can use biofeedback and electrical stimulation to help find the correct muscle group to work.