What are Kegel exercises?

Kegel exercises are a list of exercises that can be performed in order to significantly strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Since the pelvic floor plays such a crucial and central role in closing the urethra, it must be strong enough to fulfill its function properly.

Kegel exercises are very simple exercises to perform, with a clear goal at their center – contracting and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles, in order to train them and keep them in good shape and in an active state.

What causes the pelvic floor muscles to weaken?

If Kegel exercises are designed to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, the obvious question is also asked as to what causes them to loosen and weaken.

Well, there are several reasons for the weakening of the pelvic floor muscles:

1. Medical reason – various background diseases can lead to a state of relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles, depending on difficult conditions such as urinary incontinence.
2. Age reason – As you get older, different parts of your body become less strong. Just as the skin of the face becomes less tense with age, so too the pelvic floor muscles become weaker, requiring frequent physical maintenance in order to strengthen them again.

Depending on these causes, the characteristics of urinary incontinence can also be classified accordingly:

1. Urinary incontinence that is related to a health condition.
2. Urinary incontinence that is associated with advanced age.
3. Urinary incontinence during strenuous activity, which is typical of both young and older women. This incontinence occurs while performing various activities such as running, coughing, sneezing, brisk walking, and more.

How do Kegel exercises are performed to prevent urinary incontinence and to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles?

Now it's time to connect all the dots, and complete the puzzle in a slightly more coherent way. Kegel exercises, which are based on contracting the pelvic floor muscles and training them, can be expressed in a number of ways. Here are some of the exercises you can easily do, without any external accessories – just you, a towel or mattress to insulate from the floor, and your concentration on the exercises.

The Elevator Exercise

An exercise in which you lie on your back and spread your legs slightly. After that, the pelvic floor muscles should be contracted slightly, then the contraction should be intensified, and finally it should be brought to maximum contraction. At the end of the contractions, let go and release, and repeat the exercise for a few repetitions.

Lifting and contraction exercise

An exercise in which you lie on your back and spread your arms out to the sides. Then, lift your buttocks upwards at a controlled and slow pace, while contracting the pelvic floor muscles. Finally, return your buttocks to the mattress, relax, and repeat the exercise for a few repetitions.

The Cat Exercise

In this exercise, stand in a six-position position, and maintain a straight line that stretches between the palms of the hands and shoulders and between the knees and the pelvis. The back should be arched while contracting the pelvic floor muscles, wait a few seconds and release. The exercise can be repeated several times and in several separate sets.

Sitting buttock lift exercise

This exercise is performed by sitting on a mattress with your legs spread out, and with your arms stretched back. Using your hands, lift your buttocks and pelvis upwards, while contracting the pelvic floor muscles, stay for a few seconds and relax.

Contraction and relaxation exercise

In order to perform the contraction and relaxation exercise, you must sit in an oriental sitting position with your back straight. Contract the pelvic floor muscles while relaxing the muscles of the buttocks, abdomen and thighs, and visualize the muscles rising upwards while contracting. Accordingly, let go, let go, and repeat the exercise several times.

Pelvic floor muscle contraction exercise on one leg

In this exercise, stand on one leg, and swing the other leg flexively until the knee reaches the pelvic line. When swinging the leg, the pelvic floor muscles should be contracted, after a few seconds relax and return the leg to its position while standing. Here, too, you can repeat the exercise several times, and you can also alternate between the raised legs from time to time.

Kegel exercises and assistive devices

Six Kegel exercises are listed here above, with none of them incorporating any external aids. Those of you who are interested in taking it up a notch and allowing yourself to perform Kegel exercises using various accessories, are indeed welcome to do so.

Kegel exercises can also be performed using jade eggs, which can fit well into the exercises, as well as using a dedicated Kegel exercise training device. However, it is important to note that these methods incorporate penetration into the vagina, which is why many women find them too invasive and avoid this type of practice.

The Effectiveness Test of Kegel Exercises – Does It Really Work?

Kegel exercises were born out of the understanding that women who are dealing with urinary incontinence and weak pelvic floor muscles need to have a good and readily available solution, so there is no doubt that they maintain the highest level of effectiveness. It is important to note that today there are quite a few technological means that can speed up the processes that Kegel exercises are trying to promote, but we will talk about those means later.

Performing Kegel exercises by young women vs. adults

Young women tend to underestimate when it comes to taking care of their bodies, in all sorts of ways. What these young women don't realize is that what they don't keep now will meet them in the future, and then they'll have to work even harder than they could as young people.

Performing Kegel exercises is intended for young women as much as for older women. These young women may not be currently dealing with urinary incontinence, but pelvic floor strengthening exercises do not come with a specific age pattern, and can also be performed for pre-avoidance purposes.

There is no doubt that older women who reach an age that already requires them to perform Kegel exercises are women who will need to be more careful about performing Kegel exercises, especially if they are already dealing with a situation of urinary incontinence.

Recommended Frequency for Performing Kegel Exercises

If we have already mentioned the frequency of performing Kegel exercises, it is time to talk about the subject in a slightly more practical and concrete terms. Kegel exercises can be performed at different frequencies, especially given different statuses of progression of urinary incontinence and relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles. In general, young women can do the exercises once a day, while older women can definitely benefit more from exercises that are done two or three times a day.

Unlike grueling fitness training, for example, here we are talking about particularly easy exercises to perform, which some women even perform while sitting to watch TV, sit during work hours, and more. There is no physical requirement here that cannot be met, so you should make sure to perform the exercises as often as possible that are tailored to you personally.

Practicing Kegel exercises – could it be too late?

Since you don't have to make any extreme effort to perform Kegel exercises, you shouldn't assume that it's already too late. Of course, in some cases the exercises will not lead to the results you expect, and accordingly it will be possible to turn to other ways, but in any case it is very worth trying.

Faster and more effective solutions than Kegel exercises – does such a thing really exist?

We briefly mentioned earlier the very fact that there are solutions today that can definitely be more effective than Kegel exercises, and now it's time to talk about them in a slightly more tangible way. There are many developments in the world of medicine today, which are made possible thanks to the developed and rich technology that can be used. Some of these developments have not yet reached the stages that can already be used, but one of the most prominent of them certainly is. Meet the eChair – the chair that will save you dozens of Kegel exercises in six simple treatments.

eChair – Electromagnetic Chair for Strengthening the Pelvic Floor Muscles

So we are talking about a development that is no less than a great development, which changes all the rules of the game around strengthening the pelvic floor muscles. The eChair is an electromagnetic chair that can reach about 11,000 Kegel contractions in just one treatment. For the sake of comparison, in order to achieve this amount of contractions by using Kegel exercises – You will have to work for many months, and make sure to practice very intensively. So how does it work?

Meeting Series on the eChair

At MyDoctor, we only offer a series of six sessions, each lasting a total of 28 minutes. In that short time, you will not be required to do anything but sit comfortably in the chair, and let it do the work. You can use this time to answer emails, read articles in various newspapers and magazines, and even browse social media. During this time, the magic will happen, and at the end of the series of sessions, you will leave with much stronger pelvic floor muscles than before, which can help with the proper functioning of the urethra and prevent urinary incontinence.

Why MyDoctor?

At MyDoctor, we exclusively market the eChair, thanks to our great professionalism in the field of medicine and in finding real and available solutions for the Israeli public. The chair is one of the products and services that we are most proud to present to you, because it offers such an effective and simple treatment at the same time.

In addition, our availability for eChair treatments is particularly high, and our representatives maintain a high level of service throughout the process – from the moment of deliberation and consultation, to the moment of actual treatment. With all of these, there is no doubt that the right solution for you is with us, in the professional eChair treatments.

eChair from MyDoctor in a free consultation and adjustment meeting

It is important to note that even before we tailor the series of treatments for you, we will meet with you personally together with a physiotherapist who specializes in pelvic flooring, in order to examine your suitability for the treatment. This meeting is not accompanied by any cost, after which you can make decisions together with our professional opinion.

The Road to Success Begins with MyDoctor's eChair

We have the best experts and professionals who will be happy to accompany you along the way, and make you accessible to different and advanced ways that you have not necessarily known before. Since we at MyDoctor are constantly updated and innovative, you can be sure that you will find the best solutions for a variety of medical problems, especially urinary incontinence. Contact us For more information and to schedule an appointment, call 072-397-2-386. We are waiting for you!