In my early days of being a pelvic floor PT, I was convinced I had the answer to all the woes of the pelvic floor. One word – Kegels. As I’ve developed professionally over more than 15 years, I realized Kegels have their place. However, they are not the answer for all things pelvic floor. They should be used, in general, if muscles are weak because they are overlengthened/overstretched, or in a good place, just weak. There are specific instances when Kegels (also known as PC or pelvic floor muscle contractions) are the answer. I’m a firm believer in doing a Kegel program combined with a core strengthening program that will address the bigger picture. Here’s who should be doing Kegels and why:
Basically, if weakness contributing to a lack of support or a reduced ability to close around your openings to maintain continence is to blame (see this article for more information), you should learn how to do your Kegels correctly NOW and begin a program that specifically addresses your contributing factors to weakness. A trained pelvic floor physical therapist is the best person to evaluate all potential contributing musculoskeletal factors. At our offices, licensed physical therapists will go over a complete history or your condition. Once we have your background, a physical exam will begin that will address your posture and look at your muscle strength and flexibility of all the muscles that primarily influence your pelvic floor. Lastly, a pelvic floor muscle examination will determine your pelvic floor muscle strength and endurance, two important components of muscle function. We will also look at muscle coordination address any abnormal findings.
Classic stress urinary incontinence will typically take 6-8 visits to achieve 90-100% resolution of symptoms. These visits are often spread out over 3-6 months and is discussed on an individual basis. Urge incontinence has more variation, and can take as few as 4 visits up to 12 visits, again spread out over time. In all instances, we are able to spread out visits as a home exercise program is developed to address your specific areas of weakness and dysfunction.
However, just because you have incontinence, does not 100% guarantee that Kegels are the answer. In my upcoming article “Why You Should STOP Doing Kegels NOW”, I’ll go over why this magical muscle contraction is not all it’s cracked up to be.
~Heather Jeffcoat, DPT
P.S. - Click here for my other blog post on why you should STOP doing Kegels
P.P.S. - For a thorough evaluation by one of our trained physical therapists, why not schedule an appointment?
**This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your doctor.
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