Five Strategies That Are More Effective At Managing Incontinence Than Kegels
A kegel is a voluntary pelvic floor muscle contraction, often recommended for pelvic floor symptoms like incontinence and prolapse.
Unfortunately, per the research, 50% of women report being unsure if they’re even doing kegels correctly.
Additionally, this isn’t exactly how the pelvic floor works. The pelvic floor muscles need to contract AND relax. These muscles are more often more tense than weak, anyways. There’s a lot more information about how the pelvic floor muscles work here. But for the sake of this blog, I’m going to give you five strategies that are more effective at managing urinary incontinence than kegels.
Hip internal rotation: because of muscular attachments in the pelvis and on the femur, when the hips internally rotate the pelvic floor muscles lift and pull forward (the same motion as a kegel). During pregnancy, most women live in an externally rotated position, which can lead to leakage.
Glute strengthening: if the glutes do their job, the pelvic floor muscles don’t have to work overtime doing both jobs. By doing both jobs, these muscles become overworked and typically not able to do their job when needed (like with laughing, coughing, or sneezing).
Pelvic floor coordination training: there’s a lot more on that & why it is important HERE.
Constipation management: a full rectum sits on the pelvic floor muscles like a weight, making it harder to do their job. HERE is a more detailed blog about managing constipation.
Minimizing bladder irritants: and last but not least, the bladder irritants. There are fluids that you might be consuming that are very irritating to the bladder. Consuming less of these and more water helps tremendously with leakage. Read more about bladder irritants HERE.
And of course, pelvic floor PT. Basically, you don’t have to live with leakage. There is specialty help for urinary incontinence.
We’d love to help you. To schedule an appointment, call 903-962-2600 or email hello@txpelvichealth.com.
