My midwife told me. Part of the exam is to do a kegel.
But, an obvious indicator is leakage. You could also try the pee test- pee and mid flow try to stop it. Can you? Can you easily? You;ll get a sense of how things are going down there.
Beth
My midwife told me. Part of the exam is to do a kegel.
But, an obvious indicator is leakage. You could also try the pee test- pee and mid flow try to stop it. Can you? Can you easily? You;ll get a sense of how things are going down there.
Beth
Oh you'll know....it will feel like your insides are bulging out where they should not be...
Or you will leak urine when you laugh or sneeze.
Fun stuff.
Mama to "The Fantastic Four":
DS 02
DD 06
DS 09
DD 12
It's part of the DMC. In Rehab Institute of Michigan. They have one on the main DMC campus near Wayne State, another in Southfield, another in Novi. The back of my prescription had at least 10 people to call at different sites. My OB said the best one of all of them is Tina at the Novi branch (12 Mile and M-5 right near 12 Oaks mall).
Unfortunately, nothing worked for me and I will be having surgery soon.
Jenn
M - my 7 yo ADHD/anxiety monkey.
TT - my 4yo tiny terror.
"Swimming is not a sport. Swimming is a way to keep from drowning. That’s just common sense!" "I don’t have a fear of heights. I do, however, have a fear of falling from heights." “No comment” is a comment."
"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it." "Atheism is a non-prophet organization."
- George Carlan
I read the interview linked and I also read some other stuff by that same woman. I don't think she's saying DON'T kegel, I think she's saying do kegels AND other exercises that help support the pelvic floor. I think a lot of women do kegels thinking that's all you really need to do, when you really need strong abs, glutes, hips, quads, and hamstrings too. But saying "don't do kegels" gets more publicity, I'm sure.
In my PT so far, kegels are just one of many exercises that she has me doing. She said playing hulu hoop on Wii Fit was very good for helping to keep your pelvis aligned.
Last edited by DebbieJ; 03-30-2011 at 12:48 AM.
~ deb
DS1 Dec 2003
DS2 Sept 2009
I don't believe Kegels have no place in pelvic floor PT. I did several months of it last fall with a PT who specializes in pelvic floor, and she talked about "new kegels" which never sounded so new to me. She emphasized the hold of the kegel and the release equally, she warned against mistaken kegels ("riding the horse" where you clench your butt cheeks more than actually lifting your internal muscles), and she did say you need to engage your core and especially your transverse abdominals.
She used biofeedback using a laptop and internal senseor, and her scale was much bigger than what Beth described. A 4 or 6 would be very weak and about a 20 would be what you wanted to get too. I also bought an internal home unit - not cheap at all - and the scale on that is much lower, 1-6.
On the one hand, I trust my PT's expertise. On the other hand, she was terribly touchy feely, which bugged me, and I didn't improve as much as I expected for all the time and money I spent. And I am astonished at the range of advice that has been mentioned here and some things mentioned which she didn't use (hula hoop, full body exervises).
Maybe I'll switch to another PT who is more covered by insurance. The frustrations above, and a change in my insurnace, is what led me to stop going.
eta: I only read half that article, but so far, I don't believe the kegels-are-bad supposed expert. What's her training anyway? She's neither a doctor nor a physical therapist from what I can figure out. I've read the book "Ever Since I Had My Baby" written by a urogynecologist, and he does not say the same thing as her, nor does my pelvic floor PT. I'd like to print this article and show it to my PT, but that would involve going back to her. Then again, typing this had made me realize she still has my "Ever Since I Had My Bab" book.
Last edited by american_mama; 03-30-2011 at 12:03 PM.
Advice and commentary on living overseas
DD1 15, DD2 12, and DS 9