Aim This pamphlet provides you with some exercises that will enable you to achieve better control of your pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor muscles are the group of muscles which supports your pelvic organs: bladder, uterus and intestines. They are also the muscles which close around the rectum, vagina and urethra. It is therefore important to train the muscles, to strengthen them, so that you are able to control the passage of urine, wind and bowel movements. When you squeeze the pelvic floor muscles, they lift up slightly, pulling the rectum, vagina and urethra forwards towards the pubic bone. A bend' occurs, thereby closing the rectum, vagina and urethra. The exercises are often called pelvic floor exercises or Kegel exercises. Training When you first start doing pelvic floor exercises, it is easiest to lie down. It is easier to concentrate on what you are doing and the weight is taken off the muscles. When you are doing the exercises, you should breathe normally and avoid tightening the other muscle groups, such as your stomach, buttocks and thighs. Lie on your back or your side, your knees bent: Squeeze the muscles around your rectum as if to avoid breaking wind. You might feel you coccyx being pulled forwards slightly. Relax. Squeeze your rectal muscles againand feel how the muscles around thevagina and urethra also tighten. Holdthe tension for 3-4 seconds. Repeat10-20 times in a row, relaxing in between for the same length of time you squeeze. When you can do this easily, you can increase the length of the squeeze, until you can hold each squeeze for approx. 8 seconds. The exercises should be done daily. In addition to these exercises, you can also do the following: - Fast, short and powerful squeezes - A long, yet not so hard, squeeze of around 30 seconds. The exercises are made harder by standing or sitting when you do them. Finally, you could also train whenrunning and jumping. The training of the pelvic floors muscles must be a concentrated effort (as described above) for the first 2-3 months, or until the desired result has been achieved. 2
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