Question: I tried Kegels and they didn’t help my urinary incontinence. Is surgery my only option now?
Answer: Believe it or not, this is a common outcome for many women! Many women try doing Kegels for incontinence. However, more than 50% of women do not see improvement in doing Kegels on their own.
There are many different factors that may be playing a role in your urinary incontinence: hip strength, core muscle activation, your breathing pattern, and more. An important factor is the proper functioning of your pelvic floor muscles. If your pelvic floor muscles are too tight, too loose, or too weak, this can contribute to incontinence.
Because of this, many women try Kegels at home to improve their bladder leaks. However, most women don’t see results with this approach because they are not performing Kegels correctly. It can be difficult to know whether you are doing a Kegel correctly since you cannot see your pelvic floor muscles.
You may first have to learn how to properly do a Kegel. This includes properly squeezing and lifting the muscles followed by a full relaxation of the muscles. Knowing if you are doing Kegels correctly is an important part of understanding how effective they may be for improving your symptoms.
If you feel confident you are properly doing a Kegel, great! However, if you’re not so sure, consider using Flyte to properly perform a Kegel. You’ll benefit from mechanotherapy to improve your muscle strength more quickly than Kegels alone, in just 5 minutes a day for 6 weeks.
Watch The Video Below To Learn How To Properly Do A Kegel Exercise.
If you feel confident you are
properly doing a Kegel and still not seeing improvements in your urinary incontinence symptoms, consider seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist for a thorough, individualized assessment to determine what may be contributing to your urinary incontinence. You can also speak with Flyte’s complimentary Ask a (Pelvic) PT service as a first step towards gaining more knowledge.
Regardless, surgery is certainly not your only option!
About the author and Flyte:
Shravya Kovela, PT, DPT, OCS is a pelvic health physical therapist and business development manager at Flyte. Flyte is an FDA-cleared novel treatment that tones your pelvic floor muscles and improves bladder leaks in only 5 minutes a day for 6 weeks. Flyte teaches you how to properly do a Kegel and delivers mechanotherapy, gentle mechanical pulses that when paired with an active pelvic floor contraction stimulate the body’s natural healing response to amplify the benefits of a Kegel by 39x. It’s simple, effective, and clinically proven. Flyte will give you your life back – without limitations or bladder leaks. With a free Ask A (Pelvic) Physical Therapist Service and private Facebook group moderated by pelvic health experts, Flyte supports women throughout their journeys to better bladder and pelvic health. Learn more about Flyte at www.flytetherapy.com.
The NAFC Ask The Doc series provides answers to some of our reader’s most common questions from a group of experts in the fields of urology, pelvic floor health, bowel health, and absorbent products. Do you have a question you’d like answered? Click here to Ask The Doc!
4 Responses
After my radical prostetomy five years ago I am having this problem of incontinence. I was prescribed penile clamp which I use during day time . I also have to use a diaper which gets wet in the night
Using a penile clamp continuously for 5 years , I note that sometimes the skin of penis gets bruises and rashes
Is it safe to use clamp for many years
Is flyte only for women? Is it safe? How much does it cost? Has there been research done to validate this tool?
Are there any negative side affects? Is it major surgery? How long before you see results?
Thank you,
John Guerrieri
Hi,
I have had incontinence since five years ago when I had a radical prostatectomy because of cancer. I have done pelvic floor exercises for many years without a good results. I even have seen an incontinence physiotherapist but that did not help me either. Recently, two months ago, I had a Remex adjustable sling inserted but it seems complicated to get the correct adjustment done. Either you leak and have nothing to urinate or it does not leak but it makes it hard to pee. Would I belong to the 5-10 % that does not get a good result? Grateful for your comment.
AC S
This is just a thinly disguised advertisement for a product which is supposed to help one do Kegals properly.
The information is therefore likely to be biased, even contining misinformation.
It certained minimizes seeing a professional urologist.