Kegel (pelvic floor) exercises

Kegel exercises are important in strengthening and maintaining your pelvic floor muscle tone. It is helpful in improving:

• Stress urinary incontinence
• Urge urinary incontinence
• Overactive bladder 
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Sexual satisfaction 

Kegel exercises should be started as early as possible – preferably when you get pregnant – and continued well into your menopausal years. 

Here are some tips on how to do Kegel exercises:

• Try and imagine that you are trying to stop a fart from coming out, or trying to stop your urine flow in the middle of the stream. You may find it useful to find the correct muscles by actually doing this while you are sitting on the toilet bowl, but do not do it routinely as you may teach your bladder bad habits!
• Lie down on your bed with your knees bent and legs slightly apart
• Put a small mirror in between your legs and observe your vagina and anus openings while you try and squeeze your pelvic floor muscles. You should see the openings getting smaller and being lifted in and upwards

It is normal for you to take some time to learn which are the correct muscles and how to squeeze and relax sufficiently at first. Don’t worry and be patient!

Once you have identified the correct muscles:

1. Squeeze your pelvic floor muscles and hold for 1 second – repeat 5 times
2. Squeeze and hold for 5 seconds – repeat 5 times
3. Step 1 + Step 2 = 1 cycle (30 seconds)
4. Do 5 cycles (2-3 minutes) three or four times a day (7-10 minutes)

The key is remembering to do your Kegel exercises daily. You can do them any time, in any place and in any position as nobody can tell that you are doing them! Don’t limit yourself to the sets above – if you can do it more often, do so. 

If you have difficulty grasping the technique of Kegel’s exercises, speak with your gynaecologist who can refer you to a specialised physiotherapist.

As it is likely that your pelvic floor muscles have weakened, you may not see results until you have put in consistent efforts for at least 3 to 6 months. Remember – slow and steady wins the race!