Dr. Murphy is currently the Divisional Chief of Uro-gynecology for the Calgary Health Region, where it is widely recognized that he is an expert in vaginal and pelvic floor surgery and pelvic floor disorders.

What does Dr. Murphy have to say about the Kegelmaster™?

If you are currently suffering from incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, pubococcygeus muscle or another vaginal or pelvic floor disorder, you must take serious consideration of the Kegelmaster™ as a viable non-surgical means of treatment.

The Kegelmaster is one of the most proven progressive resistance devices of its type in the world, and has a successful track record that dates back to its inception of more than ten years ago. Its straightforward revolutionary and innovative incorporation of progressive resistance makes it one of the few, and possibly only, devices that truly satisfy Dr. Kegel’s original objectives set forth in his development of the original Kegel exercise. It has been clinically shown to be one of the most effective exercisers in reconditioning weakened or damaged pelvic floor muscles and alleviating pelvic floor disorders including most forms of incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, bladder prolapse (cystocele), uterine prolapse (rectocele).

I wholeheartedly endorse the Kegelmaster™ and this is not an endorsement that I make lightly. Simply put, in my, more than, 15 years of dedicated specialization in pelvic floor disorders and research into treatment options, I have not found a better non-surgical solution capable of delivering the level of results equivalent to that of the Kegelmaster™.

I truly believe that the Kegelmaster can improve the quality of your life. For more than a decade now, it has safely done so for millions of women who were suffering just like you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Magnus Murphy MD/OBGYN

Exercising Your Pelvic Muscles

Why exercise pelvic muscles? How do you exercise your pelvic muscles? Hold the Squeeze ’til After the Sneeze Points to Remember Why exercise pelvic muscles?

Life’s events can weaken pelvic muscles. Pregnancy, childbirth, and being overweight can do it. Luckily, when these muscles get weak, you can help make them strong again.

Pelvic floor muscles are just like other muscles. Exercise can make them stronger. Women with bladder control problems can regain control through pelvic muscle exercises, also called Kegel exercises.The pelvic muscles work to control the release of urine.

Pelvic Fitness in Minutes a Day

Exercising your pelvic floor muscles for just 5 minutes, three times a day can make a big difference to your bladder control. Exercise strengthens muscles that hold the bladder and many other organs in place.

The part of your body including your hip bones is the pelvic area. At the bottom of the pelvis, several layers of muscle stretch between your legs. The muscles attach to the front, back, and sides of the pelvis bone.

Two pelvic muscles do most of the work. The biggest one stretches like a hammock. The other is shaped like a triangle. These muscles prevent leaking of urine and stool.

You can make these pelvic floor muscles stronger with a few minutes of exercise every day.
How do you exercise your pelvic muscles?
Find the right muscles. This is very important. Your doctor, nurse, or physical therapist will help make sure you are doing the exercises the right way.

You should tighten the two major muscles that stretch across your pelvic floor. They are the “hammock” muscle and the “triangle” muscle. Here are three methods to check for the correct muscles.

Try to stop the flow of urine when you are sitting on the toilet. If you can do it, you are using the right muscles.

Imagine that you are trying to stop passing gas. Squeeze the muscles you would use. If you sense a “pulling” feeling, those are the right muscles for pelvic exercises.

Lie down and put your finger inside your vagina. Squeeze as if you were trying to stop urine from coming out. If you feel tightness on your finger, you are squeezing the right pelvic muscle.

Don’t squeeze other muscles at the same time. Be careful not to tighten your stomach, legs, or other muscles. Squeezing the wrong muscles can put more pressure on your bladder control muscles. Just squeeze the pelvic muscle. Don’t hold your breath.

Repeat, but don’t overdo it. At first, find a quiet spot to practice—your bathroom or bedroom—so you can concentrate. Lie on the floor. Pull in the pelvic muscles and hold for a count of 3. Then relax for a count of 3. Work up to 10 to 15 repeats each time you exercise.

Healthy sphincter muscles can keep the urethra closed.
Do your pelvic exercises at least three times a day. Every day, use three positions: lying down, sitting, and standing. You can exercise while lying on the floor, sitting at a desk, or standing in the kitchen. Using all three positions makes the muscles strongest.

Be patient. Don’t give up. It’s just 5 minutes, three times a day. You may not feel your bladder control improve until after 3 to 6 weeks. Still, most women do notice an improvement after a few weeks.

Exercise aids. You can also exercise by using special weights or biofeedback. Ask your health care team about these exercise aids.

Hold the Squeeze ’til After the Sneeze
You can protect your pelvic muscles from more damage by bracing yourself.

Think ahead, just before sneezing, lifting, or jumping. Sudden pressure from such actions can hurt those pelvic muscles. Squeeze your pelvic muscles tightly and hold on until after you sneeze, lift, or jump.

After you train yourself to tighten the pelvic muscles for these moments, you will have fewer accidents.

Points to Remember
- Weak pelvic muscles often cause bladder control problems.|
- Daily exercises can strengthen pelvic muscles.
- These exercises often improve bladder control.
- Ask your doctor of nurse if you are squeezing the right muscles.
- Tighten your pelvic muscles before sneezing, lifting, or jumping. This can prevent pelvic muscle damage.

My Pelvic Muscle Exercise Log
Print out this chart and record your pelvic muscle exercises.

Sunday
I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
I spent ____ minutes exercising.
At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____ times.

Monday
I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
I spent ____ minutes exercising.
At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____ times.

Tuesday
I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
I spent ____ minutes exercising.
At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____ times.

Wednesday
I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
I spent ____ minutes exercising.
At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____ times.

Thursday
I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
I spent ____ minutes exercising.
At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____ times.

Friday
I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
I spent ____ minutes exercising.
At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____ times.

Saturday
I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
I spent ____ minutes exercising.
At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____ times.

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Let’s Talk about Bladder Control for Women is a public health awareness campaign conducted by the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC), an information dissemination service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health.

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National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse
3 Information Way
Bethesda, MD 20892–3580
Phone: 1–800–891–5390
Fax: 703–738–4929
Email: nkudic@info.niddk.nih.gov
Internet: www.kidney.niddk.nih.gov/

The National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC) is a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The NIDDK is part of the National Institutes of Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Established in 1987, the Clearinghouse provides information about diseases of the kidneys and urologic system to people with kidney and urologic disorders and to their families, health care professionals, and the public. The NKUDIC answers inquiries, develops and distributes publications, and works closely with professional and patient organizations and Government agencies to coordinate resources about kidney and urologic diseases.

Publications produced by the Clearinghouse are carefully reviewed by both NIDDK scientists and outside experts.

This publication is not copyrighted. The Clearinghouse encourages users of this publication to duplicate and distribute as many copies as desired.

The strengthening and toning of the Kegel muscles may eliminate the need for expensive surgeries and incontinence products. The increased circulation of blood flow to the vaginal muscular area causes greater sensitivity to any stimulation and a tremendous decrease in the vaginal opening. This is extremely helpful for those who suffer from medical conditions like stress incontinence, urge incontinence (overactive bladder-frequency), pelvic pain, bladder prolapse (cystocele), uterine prolapse or rectocele. Although Kegel exercises have been done for years, they are simply not as effective without added resistance. The Kegelmaster™ adds dynamic progressive resistance to kegel exercises to strengthen the vaginal area muscles rapidly and effectively. To discover the many benefits of using the Kegelmaster™, please browse our web site and read any information that may answer your questions regarding our product. Read understanding incontinence. Don’t take that step to diapers, it’s not necessary! This is a way for you to avoid that for the rest of your life!

Kegels are done by women before and after childbirth.

Before childbirth, the Kegelmaster helps prepare and strengthen your muscles, helping you during labor. After childbirth, a woman is concerned about her vagina returning to normal size. Kegel exercises are the first recommendation a doctor makes, to regain vaginal strength and tightness. Click here for more details.

Kegel exercises help strengthen your pelvic muscles, which weaken during childbirth. Why would you want to strengthen these muscles? If they are weak, you could have bladder control problems. You may also find that intercourse is more fulfilling when you have control of your kegel muscles.

Not sure how to do your Kegel’s? Pretend that you are trying to stop the flow of urine the next time you are sitting on the toilet (or anywhere for that matter). Those are the very muscles you need to contract in order to do your Kegels. You can also insert a finger into your vagina and try squeezing just like you are trying to stop the flow of urine. If you feel tightness around your finger, you are performing the exercise correctly.

Be sure when you are doing your Kegel’s that you concentrate on the pelvic floor muscles specifically; try not to do any other exercises. You should squeeze for about 15 seconds several times per day.

It is important that you don’t overdo your Kegel’s particularly in the early weeks after birth, or you may become very sore. Consider working up to doing three sets of ten repetitions over the course of the day.

Of course other exercises are important to get back in shape for new moms, remember to try and enjoy the experience.

Article by Beverley Brooke, author of “Ensure a healthy safe pregnancy for you and your baby”, visit http://www.pregnancywizard.com for more on kegal exercises

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Beverley_Brooke

The Kegelmaster™ is a revolutionary progressive resistance exerciser created for women. One frequently asked question is what is the KegelMaster? Perhaps the real question is what does the KegelMaster do? There is a tremendous number of unused muscles in the pelvic floor. Until now women were unable to exercise these muscles. The Kegelmaster™ was specifically designed to cradle all the pelvic floor muscles, adding progressive dynamic resistance. Kegel exercises are much less effective without resistance! Strengthening and toning these muscles may eliminate the need for expensive surgeries and/or incontinence products.

One brave woman opened up an asked this question in a women’s forum:

Let’s talk about kegels. Or rather, incontinence. I know, it’s a very delicate subject, and I have frequently been embarrassed, ashamed, etc. about this little problem. For one thing, I didn’t think I’d even face this until into my 80s or so. I’m too young to have to wear pads every day. I do kegels, when I think about it. I’m probably 10 pounds overweight, most of it in my belly and thighs. I don’t have health insurance, so getting that little ‘tie-up surgery’ is out. And besides, my little sister had that done and 6 years later, it’s no longer effective. Anyone else struggle with this?

So, let’s talk about urinary incontinence (UI) in women. To begin with, there are several types, but we’ll focus on the two main ones here.

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) (that’s the kind that occurs when you sneeze, cough, lift something, etc) is the most common form, affecting about 50% of those who experience incontinence. It seems to be more common in younger women, though occurs in older women as well.

Urge urinary incontinence (UUI) is more common with advancing age (this is the kind that when you gotta go, you GOTTA go NOW!).
Many women will have a mixture of both.

There are various causes, but interestingly enough; studies have been inconsistent in identifying factors that regularly contribute to UI. Some contributing factors may include:

* childbirth – the more vaginal deliveries, the greater the overall risk

* current smoking status as been associated with UI (though the results are inconsistent in former smokers)

* obesity (it does improve with weight loss)

* constipation

* hysterectomy – Some studies show a 60% greater risk of UI following a hysterectomy.

* hormone therapy (A recent study showed that hormone therapy actually has been shown to increase the incidence of UI. JAMA. 2005;293:935-948.)

Kegels become and important part of treatment with SUI since frequently the pelvic floor muscles are weakened. Just like we need to do strength training for our overall health, we need to do pelvic muscle strength training to support our bodies.

When doing Kegels, it’s important to make sure you are doing them correctly. To identify the correct muscles, sit on the toilet and try and stop your urination. You may notice that your attempts at stopping urinary are ineffective…well those are the very muscles you need to work on. Use this as a bench mark for yourself and re-test yourself weekly.

Kegels must be done several times each day. Fortunately, they can be done anywhere and no one need know what you are doing. When they are done frequently enough, most women will be able to tell a difference. In addition to the contractions, try holding the muscle tight for a count of 8-10.

Other possible treatments include: behavioral modification therapy using biofeedback, physical therapy using weighted cones to help strengthen pelvic floor muscles, bladder training, acupuncture, medications and surgery.

Treatment often takes a multi-pronged approach beginning with an evaluation to discover the exact type of UI that is present (they have different treatment approaches). Often times, treatment will consists of a few different modalities.

For women who wish to try self treatment first, do consider doing kegels, and increase your fluid intake. While that sound counter-intuitive, concentrated urine, along with caffeine are actually bladder irritant and will make the problem worse. Keep a diary to assess how often this is a problem, what may be some contributing factors, and what you are doing to address the problem. When you do see your health care provider, take this diary with you.

If you are faced with this issue, please do see your health care provider for an exam. Left untreated, it generally does not get better on its own, but can improve with the proper treatment.

©2005, Barbara C. Phillips, Nurse Practitioner and founder of OlderWiserWomen™ inspires women to embrace the freedom, magic and wisdom of Successful Aging. Visit http://www.OlderWiserWomen.com for your copy of “Celebrating You: 50 Tips for Vibrant Living”.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Barbara_C._Phillips

Your PC, or pubococcygeus muscle, is a hammock-shaped muscle in your pelvic area. It runs horizontally from front to back and in daily life you rarely put it to any major use. It does come into play however when you have an orgasm. This is why so many people want to exercise their PC muscle with what is known as Kegel exercises. Stronger ‘orgasm muscles’ can provide you with more intense orgasms….something not too many people would complain about.

Why are they called Kegel exercises?

A leading gynecologist in the early 1900′s named Dr. Arnold Kegel created a set of exercises for women to do after pregnancy. Women have PC muscles, but Dr Kegel figured out that when women exercise their’s after childbirth that they can re-tighten their body and eliminate many of the problems associated with loose muscles post-pregnancy. What women found was that after performing Kegels they were experiencing better orgasms than ever before.

What are the benefits of making my PC muscle stronger?

The benefits span across a few different areas. First, sexually the benefits are obvious. Better orgasms that are stronger and last longer are the most obvious benefits.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Samantha_C

The answer is yes! The enormous strain of having a baby can weaken the pelvic floor muscles. But by doing regular Kegels after delivery, you can easily strengthen these small but important muscles again. Other added benefits include enhanced sexual pleasure both for you and your husband so read on!

Named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, this exercise is designed to strengthen the pubococcygeus muscles, or PC muscles. To find these muscles, try stopping and starting the flow of urine. Bingo! Now simply tighten and relax these muscles over and over again, as if you’re trying to stop the flow of urine. There are many variations of the exercise:

1. Tighten and relax the PC muscles throughout the day (shoot for 200 times)

2. Tighten slowly in increments going in and out, like an elevator stopping on several floors

3. Hold the muscle tightened for five seconds and then release. Gradually work up to holding each Kegel for a count of ten

Make sure you don’t do these when you’re actually going to the bathroom or with a full bladder. This could increase your risk of a urinary tract infection. Otherwise, you can do Kegels sitting at the computer, standing in line, even when you’re lying in bed. It’s a little invisible exercise that can be done anywhere, whether you’re alone, talking to a friend, or in a crowd of people.

By having a strong pelvic floor, you will be better prepared for your next pregnancy, experience more sexual pleasure with your husband, and reduce the risk of incontinence in the future. Now granted, if you have a little one in diapers, you may not be thinking of having another now or incontinence in the future, but wouldn’t you welcome a boost to your sex life? Kegel exercises are great for strengthening a healthy body and a healthy marriage, so don’t forget about them since baby has arrived. Kegels are always in vogue for moms of any age.

Today’s Action Step: What variation of Kegel exercises will you do today?

Arlene Pellicane, mother of a toddler and infant, helps women lose their baby weight and thrive as wives and mothers. Her weekly podcast “Losing Weight After Baby” is full of practical ideas that work for busy moms. Visit Arlene’s website for free articles and exercises at http://www.losingweightafterbaby.com and blog at http://losingweightafterbaby.wordpress.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Arlene_Pellicane

You might not know that seven out of ten women have disorders of the pelvic floor. It’s not surprising, given that the pelvic floor supports the bones in the spine; structures the abdominal cavity — muscles and organs included; controls the passage of urine and stool; facilitates the childbirth process; and contributes to a woman’s sexual pleasure and ability to reach orgasm. What is surprising for many of us, however, is that problems with the above are avoidable.

As a midwife, I have seen what strength and flexibility in the pelvic floor can do for women. Yet many of us think our only option for these muscles is to practice Kegel exercises. Dr. Arnold Kegel discovered in the 1940’s that you can actually strengthen the vaginal muscles by — get this — resistance strength training. These squeeze-and-hold vaginal exercises known as Kegels were specifically designed to target pelvic floor strengthening.

Kegel’s research has certainly helped lots of women over the years, but we’ve learned so much more since then! So whether you’re already having pelvic floor issues or want to avoid problems down the road, there’s a lot you can do to strengthen those elusive vaginal muscles, and many compelling reasons why you should.

Tips for Personal Program Success

Timing is everything. Take your first packet of nutrients with your breakfast, when your body can best metabolize the rich ingredients and benefit from the energizing boost they provide.

Let’s explore the pelvic floor and why it’s so important.

What is the pelvic floor?

It may be helpful to visualize your pelvic floor as a hammock that supports all your lower organs. The flexibility and strength of this hammock come from a set of muscles and ligaments interwoven into the bowl-like pelvic walls, closing in at the base to form the pelvic and urogenital diaphragms. Entirely encasing the pelvic floor is a thin wall of fascia, or connective tissue, that covers, connects, and further supports the muscles and organs of the pelvic region.

Here is a simplified drawing of the pelvic floor. This part of our bodies is amazingly complex, and most anatomy texts devote a dozen or more drawings to its explication — it’s miraculous how all the elements work together to serve their multiple functions. It’s also the case that the pelvic floor varies from woman to woman, so no two are exactly alike!

Written by Carrie Levine, CNM, MSN

Isn’t that what we’ve done for years with Kegel exercises? Countless hours of practising while wondering if we’d got the right muscle, or if there was any point in doing the exercises anyway as we weren’t really feeling that our effort was making any difference.

A little known fact about Kegel exercises which often surprises people when they first hear it is that they were never meant to be performed the way in which they are today. Indeed, they were never meant to be performed the way they have been for decades!

Dr Kegel was an American surgeon, Associate Professor of Gynaecology at the University of Southern California and Health Commissioner of Chicago, who spent more than thirty-two years in the study of the female pelvis and the muscles therein.

His studies document his results with thousands of women that show the incredible benefits to be gained from Kegel exercises when performed correctly. In 1950 Dr Kegel had achieved complete relief of urinary stress incontinence in 93% of a group of 300 women in this way.

“On the strength of these favorable results urinary stress incontinence in women is no longer routinely treated by surgical intervention at…LA County General Hospital.” Dr Kegel. (A progress in Gynecology, 1950 p.786)

Isn’t it amazing to think that the results he was getting in the last century are even better than the generally accepted success rates for incontinence surgery carried out today? How were these results achieved? By ensuring that the exercise protocol that his patients followed consisted of two essential elements:

1) Isolating the pelvic floor muscle (using no abdominal, buttock or thigh muscles) 2) Working the pelvic floor muscle against resistance

What is commonly known as a Kegel exercise today bears little relation to authentic Kegel exercises. Dr Kegel knew that the exercises were pretty useless without either of these components. If you’ve been struggling to get results with Kegel exercises, maybe for years, now you know why they seem to be exercises in futility.

Think about it like this – Squeezing against nothing is about as effective as trying to rehabilitate or build muscle in your arm simply by flexing it up and down, you could do that forever and see little improvement. However, put a small weight in your hand and exercise against the resistance of that, adding slightly heavier weights as the arm gets stronger and improvement in strength and tone is inevitable.

Imagine going to the gym and finding all the equipment has been taken out and you’re told you can go through the motions of doing the exercise and achieve the same result! This is what women have been told about pelvic floor exercise over the last half century, and still are. By merely going through the motions of doing the exercise you cannot come close to achieving the results that come from actually doing the proper exercise.

Dr Kegel was quoted in TIME magazine, Dec 3rd, 1956 as saying, “There is a better way than surgery to correct most cases of pubococcygeal weakness”.

Considering the vast amount of surgery that is carried out for incontinence and prolapse today, it has to be fairly obvious at this stage that there is something missing from pelvic floor exercises as is normally taught.

An enlightened approach to Kegel exercises involves asking the questions “What is missing here?” Why are women not getting the results they were promised?” It is clearly insane to keep teaching women to squeeze against nothing, when the results of such a misguided approach are so poor. Performing the exercises as they were meant to be performed produces real results.

Abigail O’Donovan is the founder of Kegelmaster Europe. She aims to raise awareness that powerful pelvic floor exercises could eliminate stress incontinence and reduce the need for unnecessary pelvic surgery to near zero. To find out more please visit http://www.kegelmaster.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abigail_O’Donovan