Kegel exercises

After having a baby vaginally your pelvic floor can well...be bent out of shape (so to speak). Whether you had an episiotomy, a natural tear, or your perineum stretched beautifully, the muscles have been stretched and damaged and will need some recovery time. Consequences of this damage include urinary incontinence, anal incontinence, perineal pain, pelvic pain and pelvic organ prolapse.

So how do you get back in shape? Well like any type of training you need to exercise your pelvic floor muscles by doing Kegel exercises!! I found this wonderful site where you can download a cheeky song that gives you full instructions. Do the Kegel! It is a great song that will stay with you to remind you to do your exercises. This applies to pre- and post-natal. Anytime is a good time for Kegel exercises.
In my personal experience, I had no idea that you can go to a physical therapist to get help with this problem. For several months I went to Apex Physical Therapy in West Fargo for therapy on my pelvic floor. They now have an office in Jamestown, which I’m elated about. I’m sure there are many other physical therapy places where you are, just reach out to them and ask. Look for a physical therapist focused on women’s health.
I want to help spread the word about this little known therapy focused on this specific issue. I found Apex at a baby/pregnancy conference in Fargo. I was having a lot of incontinence issues at the time and didn’t realize there was help available. Most of my therapy consisted of kegel exercises and vaginal exams where my therapist put pressure in specific areas of my pelvic floor to release muscle tension. It was a little awkward having her stick her fingers in my vagina, but she was a professional and the therapy helped me.

My therapist also hooked me up to a machine that measured the strength of my kegel muscles. She placed sensors around my rectum area and I could see on a chart on a computer how I was doing. It was pretty cool and I could chart my progress with the increased strength of my kegel muscles.

I have since stopped this therapy, but I still do my kegel exercises. I know that just like any other exercise it helps keep this muscles strong and helps prevent me from peeing myself. 


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