Kegel exercise is the pelvic floor exercise that involves habitually contracting and relaxing the muscles that make part of the pelvic floor. Dr. Kegel proposed his exercise as an alternative to surgery to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Kegel exercise is a type of exercise performed to recover from various issues such as erectile dysfunction and urinary Incontinence.
Dr. Arnold Kegel introduces this exercise to teach women how to strengthen their vaginal muscles to avoid urinary Incontinence. Kegel exercises involve isometric contraction of pelvic floor muscles. This can be explained as the sensation of stopping urination mid-flow, ideally contracting from back to front. These exercises are necessary to help produce sufficient strength, endurance, and coordination to deal with life post-partum and the effects of aging throughout life. This kegel or pelvic floor exercise involves the entire levator ani, which relaxes and contracts as one muscle.
Why should we perform Kegel exercise?
Kegel exercise performed to strengthen pelvic floor muscles in women these muscles are responsible for a bundle of functions as
- Prevention from vaginal and uterine prolapse
- Holding up bladder
- Preventing urinary stress incontinence
- Improve muscle tone by strengthening the pubococcygeus muscle of the pelvic floor
Importance of Kegel Exercises for women:
Certain factors can lead to weak pelvic floor muscles such as childbirth, pregnancy, aging, surgery, chronic coughing, being overweight, and excessive straining from constipation. Kegel or pelvic floor exercises may help you in many ways if you have problems like :
- A few drops of urine leak while you are sneezing, coughing, and laughing.
- Fecal incontinence or stool leak
- Have a sudden and strong urge to urinate before losing a large amount of urine.
Kegel exercise is also beneficial during all periods of pregnancy or after childbirth. Try to make a routine of having exercise daily. You can see results after weeks but in some cases also up to a month depending upon person to person. Pelvic floor exercises strengthen and improve muscles around your bottom, bladder, penis and vagina. Its importance in strengthening pelvic floor muscles is that it will help in several conditions as pelvic organ prolapse and urinary Incontinence. Individuals should continue doing exercises regularly even when they notice the results in them.
Different lifestyle modifications may also help:
- Do not exceed six to eight-ounce cups of fluid per whole day from all sources. Drink liquid only when you feel thirsty.
- Try to minimize the use of bladder irritants like alcohol, caffeine, spicy foods, carbonated drinks, and citrus flavoring.
- Loose weight by following a healthy diet and exercise must relieve urinary Incontinence as extra weight puts more pressure on the bladder and pelvic muscles.
- Studies have shown that women with middle age who are physically more active are least likely to develop incontinence.
- Try to quit smoking which reduces coughing that puts pressure on the bladder.
Step-by-step guide to performing Kegel Exercise:
Step 1- First try to identify your pelvic floor or Kegel muscles. You can feel these muscles when you’re in the toilet and try to stop the flow of urine. It’s not good or recommended to stop the flow of urine in midstream regularly because it can become harmful to the bladder.
Step 2- Most people prefer to do it lying down but you can do it at any position even when you’re staying at your desk. It works on your approach every day. In this try to suppose that you are sitting on a marble and try tightening your pelvic floor muscles as if holding the marble or lifting it for three seconds after this try to relax for the next three seconds.
Step 3- Make sure you always nurture your focus when tightening your pelvic floor or Kegel muscles.
Step 4- At least do three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions per day.
Step 5- Must try to include this exercise in your daily routine to nourish your activities.
Kegel Exercise during and after pregnancy:
Women who are planning to get pregnant or pregnant woman should start doing kegel exercises immediately because these pelvic floor exercises lower the chances of urinary Incontinence after having a baby.
Kegel improves blood circulation to the vagina and pelvic floor which may be helpful for lubrication and arousal. After childbirth, several women feel like their vagina is not tight as it was before and then they these women want to have surgery for that.
But strengthening the pelvic floor muscles through the Kegel exercise can able to make it a little bit more taut. It might be tighter because women are better able to contact muscles and that might enhance sensation. However, if it is psychological, this can help women to feel better about their pelvic floor. So it’s a positive benefit.
Reverse Kegel:
Imbalanced intra-abdominal pressures or fatigued pelvic floor muscles can produce hypertonic pelvic floor muscles. The Reverse Kegel is a technique or approach that helps to relax your pelvic floor muscles. The psychological observation of the patient is attentive on the pelvic floor muscles. After that, he intentionally attempt to relax them.
Benefits of Kegel Exercise in Women:
- Kegel exercise enhances sexual function and prevents prolapse of pelvic organs.
- Reduce pelvic-related pain and improve the ability to defecate.
- Can prevent fecal and urinary Incontinence during or postpartum.
- Pelvic floor exercises in women’s conditioned muscles make childbirth easier and improve symptoms of lower back pain.
Overall Kegel exercise provides a lots of benefits in women. Women’s must try to add this exercise in their daily routine to maintain and strengthen their pelvic floor muscles.
