Bladder Control Exercise

If you suffer from bladder control problems there are many options you can choose that can help you with your condition. One of the healthiest ways to restore function to your bladder is through Kegal exercises which are exercises that strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. These are the muscles that support your vagina, urethra, and bladder which is where your body stores urine. The body then sends the urine out of your body through the urethra.

It has been proven that strengthening your pelvic floor muscles will lower the possibility and even help prevent stress incontinence. To define incontinence it is the frequent or severe leaking of urine from the bladder. Sometimes this leaking can be caused by laughing, sneezing, coughing, or physical activity and is still referred to as incontinence.

Bladder muscles are commonly weakened by frequent heavy lifting over time, the loss of the female hormone estrogen after menopause, being extremely obese and recurrent urinary tract infections.

You can begin by starting and stopping the flow of urine while you are urinating. Doing this will help you use the muscles and familiarize you with them. When you aren't urinating you can tighten the muscles and hold it for five to ten seconds about twenty times while increasing the repetitions gradually over time. Make sure you relax the muscles for equal amounts of time.

The great thing about Kegal exercises is that they are so convenient and easy to do that you can literally perform them anywhere, anytime. It is impossible for anyone to see that you are doing them, and the fast results will be encouraging. Even when you have achieved the level of control you were looking for you should still perform the exercises regularly to keep the muscles strong.

You should check your personal technique in the mirror every now and then to make sure that you aren't using your stomach or buttock muscles by placing your hand on your stomach or buttocks as you tighten. If you are doing the exercise correctly you shouldn't feel your stomach or buttocks tighten. You should see results within three or four weeks.

The women who are over the age of fifty and are experiencing bladder control problems can talk to their doctors about using an estrogen cream. An estrogen cream combined with Kegal exercised will greatly improve the strengthening of the muscles that are around the bladder and vagina.

If Kegal exercises alone aren't effective you can combine them with other treatments such as medications that can help strengthen the bladder muscles as well as lower the urge to urinate.

Article provided by Sven Ullmann, who runs Deserved Health - a site dedicated to different health related topics. Read more about Bladder Control Exercises.