Urinary incontinence is a condition in which you suffer a loss of bladder control that can be embarrassing and can affect your day-to-day activities. In severe cases of urinary incontinence, you may experience urine leakage when laughing or coughing. There are a variety of approaches you can take to help treat urinary incontinence, such as eliminating bladder irritants such as caffeine and alcohol, controlling your fluid intake, taking medications that will relax your bladder, and performing Kegel exercises that increase the muscle tone of your bladder. Always consult your doctor before attempting to treat your urinary incontinence with a self-prescribed treatment plan.
Simple Kegel Exercises
Kegel exercises, also referred to as pelvic floor exercises, will help treat urge incontinence, which is when you suffer from involuntary spasms of the bladder muscles, as well as stress incontinence. Stop the flow of your urine in midstream to identify your pelvic floor muscles. They will contract your urethra and anus as you do this, and this is the feeling you need to experience when performing your Kegel exercises. If your stomach muscles engage when you are trying to contract your pelvic floor muscles, the Kegel exercises will not be effective in treating your incontinence. Perform three sessions of Kegel exercises for a minimum of 10 minutes each every day by rhythmically tightening your pelvic floor muscles for three seconds and relaxing them for three seconds. The more you work out your pelvic floor muscles with your Kegel exercises, the easier it will be to control your incontinence.
Kegel Exercises for Women
As a woman, you can perform a variation of the Kegel exercises by using a weighted cone to tonify your pelvic floor muscles. You will insert a specially designed weighted cone into your vagina and tighten your pelvic floor muscles to prevent it from falling out. Sets of these cones come with different weights, so you can increase the weight once it become easy to keep the cone in your vagina. The heavier the cone, the stronger your pelvic floor muscles must be to keep it inside. Kegel exercises using weighted cones help 70 percent of women who use them to cure their urinary incontinence, according to MayoClinic.com.
Timed Voiding Exercise
Timed voiding is an exercise where you plan and extend the times between urination. It helps to limit your fluid intake during the beginning stages of this exercise so you can reduce the immediate need to urinate and have time to work on a schedule that works with your lifestyle. As you gain practice, you can intake more fluids and still extend the time between your trips to the bathroom.
Frequency
Your success in improving your incontinence with the help of Kegel and timed voiding exercises greatly depend on your level of commitment to practice them as often as possible.
