8
4.2. PERFORMING
PELVIC
FLOOR EXERCISES
It is recommended to make Pelvic Floor
Exercises (sometimes called Kegel
Exercises) part of your daily life.
1) Kegel exercises can be done at any
time and are very discreet so you can
do them almost anywhere; lying in
bed, sitting at the computer or
waiting for a bus. It is a good idea to
try and develop a routine which you
can repeat each day.
2) First, it is important to find your pelvic
floor muscles and feel them working.
So here are a couple of techniques
which might help:
Try inserting one or two clean fingers
into your vagina and then squeezing
the surrounding muscles, lifting up
and towards your belly button
– a
squeezing and lifting sensation.
Another way is to try and stop the
flow of urine during urination. If you
are successful, then you know you
are exercising the correct muscles.
Note:
These techniques are
just to help you confirm that you
are using the correct muscles.
It is important to have an empty bladder
before starting the exercises.
3) Try to remember the lifting and
squeezing sensation and when you
are ready try to recreate it just using
the muscles you identified earlier;
don't tense the muscles in your legs,
stomach or buttocks and remember
to breathe normally.
4) Aim to hold each squeeze or
'contraction'
for
three
to
five
seconds, then release and relax.
You should feel a ‘letting go’ of the
muscles. Rest for five seconds and
then repeat.
5) Try and do about ten squeezes in
this way.
6) Repeat the whole process three or
four times a day.
7) Over a period of time try to increase
the muscle contractions up to about
ten seconds, but remember to rest in
between each squeeze for longer
periods.
Note:
It is important to aim for
quality
contractions,
not
quantity, so a few good hard
squeezes are better than a series of
weak ones.
Do not worry if you find holding for 3
seconds difficult at first. Just squeeze
for as long as you feel comfortable to do
so. The more exercise you do, the
stronger the muscles will become and
the longer you will be able to squeeze.
8) Using your
itouch sure
pelvic floor
stimulator in conjunction with Kegel
exercises will give you a better
understanding of how they work and
how to get the greatest benefit from
them.
