The muscles he was referring to form a hammock across the lower pelvis and support the bladder, the bowel, and the reproductive organs. We know for these organs to function, there must be egress (basically a way out) to the exterior. The tube that connects the bladder to the outside (the urethra) must pass through these muscles. The vagina must do the same thing to allow egress of the contents of the womb (uterus). Finally, the contents of the bowel must have a way to get out as well.
For all these functions to work well, you have to have strong muscles. When you do “Kegel exercises, it basically is a great work out for just those muscles. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for to identify the correct muscles to exercise.
General Guidelines
1) do not continually stop voiding by tightening the pelvic floor
muscles. This may eventually cause voiding problems.
2) try to keep your abdominal, thigh, and buttock (bum) muscles
relaxed while doing the exercises. If these muscles tense up, the
exercises end up being done incorrectly.
3) to help keep these auxiliary muscles of the pelvis (abdominal,
thigh, and buttock muscles) relaxed, breath normally while
doing the exercises. In particular, the patient should breathe out
as the muscles are contracted.
4) do not overdo the exercises in the mistaken belief this will
improve the problem faster. It may have the opposite effect due
to muscle fatigue.
5) last but not least, try not get discouraged. It may take some time (3 plus weeks) to notice changes but in the end, if the exercises work, it’s much better than having to come see a Doctor like me ☺
Regards,
Dr. Himel
photo credit: http://www.apta.org/AM/Images/APTAIMAGES/ContentImages/ptandbody/incontinence/kegels.gif
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