Joy in Birthing

Kegel exercises strengthen your pelvic floor muscles – the muscles that support your urethra, bladder, uterus, and rectum. They help women with urinary incontinence, or diminished bladder control, which can happen after childbirth.
If you’re not already doing Kegel exercises, start them now. Because Kegels improve circulation to your rectal and vaginal area, they can help keep hemorrhoids at bay and speed healing after tearing during childbirth. Finally, continuing to do Kegel exercises regularly after giving birth not only helps you maintain bladder control, it also improves the muscle tone of your vagina, making sex more enjoyable.

How do I find this muscle?

In magazines and web sites, a kegel exercise is most frequently identified as something to do with “stopping and starting the flow of urine”.

As a simple means to find your PC muscle this kegal exercise test is educational, but only for those who already have strong PC muscles.

It was never intended to be the “instructional tool” that it has become in women’s magazines.

What happens from many women who can stop the flow of urine? Failing to interrupt the stream, many women conclude that their own muscles are already beyond self-help, and readily submit to the surgeon’s confident invitation.

If this condition describes you – don’t give in to surgery! Dr. Kegel’s original method are documented proof:

“By 1950 Kegel was able to boast a 93% cure rate for 300 unselected patients with stress incontinence in Los Angles, and claimed that other physicians using his device were 91% successful. Beginning in 1948, “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.” 

All you need is guidance from a health practitioner who practices Dr. Kegels methods – they will assist you locating your PC muscle through biofeedback.

Kegel Myths

One of the biggest misconceptions about kegel exercise for increased sexual pleasure is that the goal is to tense the PC muscle.

A stronger PC muscle is essential for women who have a PC muscle so weak that they can not stop urine flow.

When you strengthen a weakened muscle you put in back in balance.

But what if you have a PC muscle that is already strong?

Is there a danger that you can over strengthen the muscle?

And the answer is YES!

Dr. Howard Glazer suggests that:

“If you simply strengthen the muscles without learning how to relax them, you may make your vulvodynia worse by making the chronic pelvic tension BETTER at cutting off blood flow to the vulvar tissue.”

What this means is, that if you strengthen with a kegel exercise you need to learn how to relax the PC muscle- after all it is a matter of balance – contract and relax!

So remember to relax when doing a kegel exercise!

To release a contraction push slightly as if you were trying to expel urine or a tampon.

Be mindful of how it feels to relax the PC muscles during a kegel exercise.

Remember, even Dr. Kegel stated outright that “strength” is not the important focus – rather he stressed the importance of “conditioning of the sexual reflex”.

In other words, control and relax while doing your kegal exercise!

How do I do them?

Imagine that you’re trying to stop the flow of urine midstream. The feeling is one of “squeeze and lift” – a closing and drawing up.

If you’re not sure you’ve got it, one way to check is by inserting a clean finger into your vagina before doing a Kegel. If you feel pressure around your finger, you’re on the right track. Place a little note, I use address labels, with the word KEGEL next to your toilet, so you remember to do your kegel every time you pee.

1. Begin by emptying your bladder a little then hold for a few second, then empty it completely.
2. Tighten the pelvic floor muscles and hold for a count of 10.
3. Relax the muscle completely for a count of 10.
4. Do 10 exercises, 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, and night).

You can do these exercises at any time and any place. Most people prefer to do the exercises while lying down or sitting in a chair. After 4 – 6 weeks, most people notice some improvement. It may take as long as 3 months to see a major change.

Want to have fun? Try Kegel during lovemaking and ask your partner if he can feel it. If you’re doing it correctly, he’ll be able to feel you “hug” his penis.

Though you may have trouble isolating these muscles at first, it gets easier with practice. It might help to place a hand on your belly while you’re doing your Kegels to make sure that it stays relaxed. There are several aids that can be purchased to assist with Kegel exercises, both external aids that are worn between the thighs and internal aids that are placed in the vagina and act as “dumbbells.” Biofeedback can also help with performing Kegel exercises, as it can detect whether the right muscles are being contracted.

 

 

Painless Childbirth is a Scientific Reality *

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*A study conducted by CL Pasero and R Britt (August 1998). Managing Pain During Labor, published in the American Journal of Nursing 98:10-11, reports that indeed a painless childbirth is a reality for as many as 45,000 WOMEN EACH YEAR IN AMERICA. One of the universal laws states: if one person can do it, it can be done by others.