Exercise/rehabilitation of the pelvic floor muscles are recommended by the Women’s Center for Continence and Sexual Health. Pelvic floor exercises, or Kegel exercises, are commonly recommended to help strengthen the urinary sphincter and pelvic floor muscles – the muscles that help to control urination.
It can be difficult for patients to know whether they are performing a Kegel correctly – using the right muscles in the right manner. To do a Kegel, one squeezes the muscles normally used to stop the flow of urine, hold that contraction for five to ten seconds, relax for five to ten seconds and repeat. Typically, a patient works up to performing three sets of ten contractions each day.
Biofeedback therapy uses computer graphs and audible tones to help show the patient which they are using for pelvic floor exercises. It is a teaching tool to help an individual learn to control and strengthen the pelvic floor area. Typically, biofeedback sessions are 30 minutes and the number of sessions will vary from patient to patient. As sessions are performed over a series of weeks, it is important to continue with pelvic floor exercises at home as well.