Simple Pelvic Exercises may Help Reduce Male Urinary Incontinence
Men who are dealing with stress urinary incontinence may be advised to make behavioral and lifestyle changes as part of treatment. Losing weight, restricting foods and beverages that may irritate the bladder and quitting smoking are some of the changes your physician may recommend.
Many doctors recommend incontinence patients start exercising. In addition to regular exercise, patients may be advised to try special pelvic exercises to help reduce incontinence. These are called Kegel exercises, and they are specifically designed to strengthen the muscles located around the bladder opening.
The specific muscle Kegel exercises strengthen is called the pubococcygeus muscle or PC. This muscle stretches from the pubic bone to the tailbone. It supports the pelvic organs and contributes to the function and control of the sphincter muscles. Whether these exercises help control urinary incontinence or not, they are safe to perform regularly.
In order to do Kegel exercises, you must be able to locate your PC muscle. The easiest way to do this is during urination. When urinating, try to stop. The muscle you use to do so, or feel tightening when you stop urination, is your PC muscle.
To exercise the PC muscle, "squeeze" it, hold for 5 to 10 seconds, and then release tightening. Repeat the pattern ten times. This is the slow Kegel exercise. Another option is the quick Kegel, where the muscles are rapidly squeezed and relaxed. Men should be able to feel the testicles lift when this exercise is performed correctly and may even be able to see this lift happen with practice.
You can gradually increase the frequency and intensity of the exercises over time. Each week you may increase the number of "sets" of contractions and relaxations you perform. You could also increase the amount of time you hold or squeeze each contraction.
Since Kegel exercises require no special equipment or preparation, it is simply a matter of remembering to work them into your daily routine to start experiencing benefits. Most men experience improvement in urinary incontinence within about 4 to 6 weeks of starting Kegel exercises. Kegel exercises are easy to do and it takes just a few minutes of time to perform them daily. Some men find these exercises are very helpful at treating incontinence. They are able to avoid having to take medications by performing them.
Unfortunately, pelvic exercises aren’t effective in all cases of stress urinary incontinence. In more persistent leakage cases, very effective surgical implants, such as the Coloplast Virtue, may eliminate male urinary continence long term.
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