Hi Joycein,The pelvic floor exercises I do are also known as Kegel exercises. I think if you type in either in a search you will probably find plenty of sites, but I'll describe them for you anyway, based on what the incontinence nurse told me.You can do the exercises almost anywhere, that's the good thing about them - nobody can tell you're doing them (unless you're concentrating so hard you get a grimace on your face -'I'm holding it, I'm holding it!'
![]()
Anyways, here they are, based on the sheet I was given - I have to use a few descriptive words for female body parts, so I hope the censoring thing doesn't bleep them out.Start the exercise lying down, but progress as soon as you can to other positions such as sitting or standing.With your legs slightly apart, tighten the muscles surrounding your vaginal passage and rectal passage as if to slow down or stop the passage of wind and urine. Do not tighten your buttocks. Hold it and relax. This is a slow squeeze.Next squeeze up quickly and immediately relax. This is a quick squeeze.The description the nurse gave me was you should feel a sort of pulling upward into the area, rather than a bearing down. It is important not to bear down, as this only makes things worse, rather than improving them.A way to see if you are doing these right ( if you feel comfortable with it) is to place a finger inside your vaginal passage, and squeeze. You should feel a tightening, contracting sensation around your finger. Another way (perhaps a bit less invasive) is to try to stop your urine flow mid-stream when you are peeing. Be careful and do this no more than once a week, as doing it too often can cause havoc with the urinary flow.As for the length and amount of the 'squeezes', start off low. I started with 3 slow, held for 3 seconds, then 3 quick ones, three times a day. The nurse advised this after finding I could maintain a slow squeeze for about 2 seconds, but the muscles were quite weak.I would say you would be okay starting at about the same level. You could test yourself with the finger test, and see how long you could hold it for, and how weak or strong the muscles are, but if possible, I would say go and see an incontinence specialist, as they can 'tailor' a program for you.Keep going with the level you start at until you feel you can do them easily and strongly, then move up one - ie: 4 slow squeezes for 4 seconds, then 4 quick, 4 times a day and so on.You will probably find details on these exercises also in any book on urinary incontinence. There's one available here in Aus called 'Women's Waterworks - Curing Incontinence' by Pauline Chiarelli. Not sure if it's available in US, Amazon may have it.Anyway, I hope this info helps. And I hope you or anyone else isn't offended by my slightly graphic descriptions, It's just a bit hard to get the full picture across without them.Please email me if you wish, I'm just going to go and add my email address to my profile now.Good luck, and let me know how you go.Lbee
![]()
