Pelvic Floor Muscles
Bladder control depends on muscles working together when the bladder is filling with urine. The bladder muscle should be relaxed and the muscles around the urethra (the tube that urine passes through), called the pelvic floor muscles, should be tight. Exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor muscles can help hold urine inside the bladder, preventing leakage. These pelvic floor muscle exercises are commonly called "Kegel" exercises, named after the doctor who developed them.
Archived from the 2024 edition
Overview
There are several ways to find your pelvic floor muscles. When using the pelvic floor muscles, women will feel a slight pulling in the rectum and vagina. Men will feel a pulling-in of the anus and the penis will move. Every person is unique, and different techniques work for different people.
Imagine that you are in a crowded room and feel as if you must pass gas or "wind." Most of us will squeeze the muscles of our rectum and anus (back passage) to prevent passing gas. The muscles you squeeze are the pelvic floor muscles. If you feel a "pulling" sensation at the anus, you are using the right muscles. In the majority of patients, this is the most successful technique.
In this entry
The archived page carried these sections, in this order.
- Techniques
- General Technique
- Technique for Women
- Technique for Men
- Don't Exercise the Wrong Muscles
- Reasons
- Using Your Pelvic Muscles to Control the "Urge"
- These Exercises Cannot Harm You
- Routines
- Sample Exercise Schedule