How to Reduce Stress Incontinence with Kegel Exercises

1. How to Reduce Stress Incontinence with Kegel Exercises Loss of urine can occur in people of any age, and the quantity of urine loss can vary greatly. These symptoms can have one or more of several causes, so the best way to start is by visiting your doctor if the problem persists. Only he or she can determine what the best solution is to stop that unpleasant feeling of not being able to control your body the way you should. Today I will be focusing on so-called stress incontinence, and in doing that, I’ll be addressing two specific groups of people: women who have recently experienced childbirth and who have trouble controlling their bladder because of weakened pelvic floor muscles, and men who are suffering from what’s called “post-void dribble”: the loss of a few extra drops of fluid a few minutes after urinating. Both of these ailments are the result of stress incontinence. That’s when you lose a bit of urine after coughing, sneezing, laughing, or twisting your body in a certain way; in other words, when unintentionally putting strain on the lower abdomen and the bladder. There are a lot of bladder leakage products available in the market nowadays to control these issues temporarily and to avoid the emergency and embarrassment at public places but we have to keep in mind that these are not the permanent solution. A doctor or physiotherapist will generally ask you to start doing pelvic floor exercises (also called Kegel exercises, after Arnold Kegel, the gynecologist who invented them). There are a number of exercises you can do in order to strengthen the muscle that controls your urine flow. This muscle – called the “pubococcygeus” or PC muscle – is the same one you would use when trying to stop the flow of urine while urinating.

2. Kegel With Kegel Ball There are two basic exercises you can perform to strengthen your PC muscle: a slow one and a fast one. Let’s go over both of them now. The slow exercise goes like this: Tighten the muscle that you would normally use to stop the flow of urine and keep it tightened for 10 seconds. Don’t worry if you can’t get to ten counts the first few times. Just keep doing it for as long as possible without straining yourself. It’s a bit like working out. After your first rep, relax the muscle for 10 seconds. Repeat these 10 to 20 times per session, and have three to five sessions per day. Be sure to tighten only the PC muscle. Your thigh muscles and legs should be completely relaxed at all times. Fast version of the exercise: tighten the PC muscle and relax it at a fast but comfortable pace, trying to get as many reps in as you can in a time span of 60 seconds. The great part

3. of these exercises is that you can perform them anywhere at any time, without anyone noticing. You can do them while sitting in a chair, lying in bed or when standing up straight. Performing Slow Kegel By repeating these exercises daily for at least three weeks, you will eventually notice a significant difference and improved bladder control. Every time you sneeze, cough, or perform any other activity that would normally cause you to shed some urine, you should tighten your PC muscle. Doing these exercises will also improve your bladder strength. If you’re overweight, then slimming down will greatly reduce the stress you put on your bladder and pelvic muscles. Unwanted leakage can sometimes be immensely disturbing If someone is struggling with this for a long period of time, with few extra precautions such as: practicing Kegel, using bladder liners, maintaining a healthy weight with a balanced diet and many such other

4. lifestyle changes an incontinence patient can manage his/her moderate to heavy leakage and leads a normal happy life too. Source