Kegel exercises or Pelvic floor exercises (getting its name from Dr. Arnold Kegel who researched the pelvic floor) are recommended as the cure for associated pelvic ailments. Has anyone had any real success from kegal exercises? Probably not, because nobody ever tells you, Dr. Arnold Kegel intended the kegel exercise to be done with resistance; this is what the kegelmaster does, like no other product.

Pelvic floor exercises or kegel exercises (named from Dr. Arnold Kegel who did much research on the pelvic floor) are recommended universally as the cure for the above ailments. Has anyone had any real success from this? The answer: – probably not, because nobody ever tells you that Dr. Arnold Kegel intended the kegel exercise to be done with resistance, this is what the kegelmaster does, like no other product.

We go to the gym to increase muscle tone, mass and strength. Some think that aerobic exercises help build mass and strength, WRONG. We need weight or resistance in conjunction with repetition to get real results. Aerobics only improves the look not the strength. This is why you have had little or no success with your pelvic floor; it’s the same as any other muscle in your body only more important.

In childbirth, the pelvic floor can become overstretched, or torn, and the muscular hammock no longer provides support, which could result in urinary incontinence, constipation or incomplete bowel or bladder emptying, irritable bowel symptoms, diminished sexual satisfaction, painful intercourse, inability to use tampons, sagging or prolapse of the uterus, bladder, or rectum, or lower abdominal pain, all of these can be improved by using a kegelmaster.

In childbirth, the pelvic floor can be stretched, or torn, and the muscular hammock can no longer provide support, which may result in urinary incontinence, irritable bowel symptoms, constipation or incomplete bowel or bladder emptying, diminished sexual satisfaction, painful intercourse, sagging or prolapse of the uterus, bladder, or rectum, or lower abdominal pain, inability to use tampons, all of these can be improved by using a kegelmaster.

In the 1940′s, Dr. Kegel discovered that the best way to strengthen the vaginal muscles is by resistance strength training. These squeeze and hold vaginal or pelvic floor exercises are now known as Kegels.

There is every chance of reversing a prolapse when it is in its early stage, with the help of a kegelmaster. Unfortunately some women wait until it is too late to take action and there is a point of no return after which surgery does become necessary.

Dr. Kegel found that through using resistance exercise it was possible to not only eliminate stress incontinence effectively and safely, but that it was possible to reverse a uterine prolapse by as much as 5 to 7cm. Some would say that using a kegelmaster nearly as important to a woman as regular pap smears.

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

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

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