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Urinary Incontinence: Overcoming an Often Overlooked
Side-Effect of Childbirth or Menopause
Michael Callen
Childbirth and menopause are two phenomena that many women will
face in their lives. Unfortunately, having children or going
through menopause can create temporary or long-term issues with
urinary incontinence. If you've had a baby, you've no doubt been
told to do Kegel exercises, which strengthen the pubococcygeus
muscles that form the pelvic floor between the legs. Toning these
muscles helps to prevent the onset of incontinence; yet many
women skip these exercises altogether or do them incorrectly.
Women going through menopause can experience urinary incontinence
due to a lack of estrogen. Once a woman stops menstruating, her
body ceases to make estrogen. Estrogen is, in part, responsible
for keeping the lining of the bladder and urethra plump and
healthy. A lack of estrogen can be responsible for a weakening of
the bladder control muscles.
Pressure from coughing, sneezing, or lifting can push urine past
the grips of a weakened muscle. Leakage of this type is known as
stress incontinence. It is one of the most common types of
bladder control problems experienced by older women. If you are
experiencing urinary incontinence, you should not self-diagnose
your problem. It is important to see a doctor first.
Your obstetrician-gynecologist or medical doctor should first
perform a physical exam. Your doctor should be certain that your
bladder empties properly, that you don't have a urinary tract
infection (UTI) and that you know how to properly contract your
pelvic floor or Kegel muscles.
After your doctor has determined that there is no physical
deformity, complication or infection, you must next determine
which course of action to take. There are three common ways to
treat urinary incontinence:
-- learning behavioral techniques -- how to control the muscles
of the bladder and the sphincter to prevent leakage.
-- taking medication to replace hormones, stop abnormal bladder
muscle contractions or tighten sphincter muscles.
-- performing Kegel exercises to work the pelvic muscles.
In most cases, the most effective and beneficial course of action
is to work the Kegel muscles back in to shape. But how is one to
do that?
Over 50 years ago, Dr. Arnold Kegel discovered that by clenching
and relaxing the muscles used to stop the flow of urine, the
pelvic floor (or Kegel) muscles could be strengthened and
rehabilitated. Because of this discovery, most people have heard
of "Kegel exercises," but what most people do not know is that
Dr. Kegel incorporated a device known as the "Kegel Perineometer"
that was inserted into the vaginal cavity to measure the
contractions and provide feedback to the patient. In this way,
the patient was able to monitor the quality of the exercises and
be certain that they were being done correctly.
Most women who just "do" kegels have minimal results due to the
lack of feedback. There is nothing to tell them if they are doing
the exercise properly. The most common problem associated with
doing Kegel exercises without feedback is the accidental
contraction of the abdominal muscles at the same time as the
pelvic floor muscles. When this occurs the abdominal muscles
(which are bigger and stronger) push down on the pelvic floor and
can actually make the problem worse.
Since it's not likely that the typical family has a Kegel
Perineometer lying around, what's a woman to do? Fortunately
there is a safe, affordable solution that has been used
successfully by over 100,000 women to strengthen their Kegel
muscles in the privacy of their own homes.
This device is known as The Kegelmaster. The Kegelmaster is a
small, hinged device that is gently slipped three inches into the
vagina. Once done, a safety knob is loosened allowing the small
spring (or springs) inside to open the hinged device a few
degrees. The woman will then squeeze her kegel muscles causing
the device to close. The Kegelmaster's two, flat internal
surfaces close tightly against one another providing feedback to
the user that the exercise has been done correctly and
completely.
The Kegelmaster has four positions in which springs can be
installed or moved. This allows the user to slowly increase the
amount of resistance experienced during each exercise. Exercises
can be completed in only a few minutes and results can be seen
within a few days and improvement can continue over a few short
months. No one should suffer needlessly from this embarrassing
problem when a simple, affordable solution is so readily
available.
Michael Callen is the author of the Weekly Weightloss Tips
Newsletter (ccwebgroup.com/tips) and the Chief Technology Officer
for WellnessPartners.com, an online retailer of dozens of health
and wellness products such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), r+
alpha lipoic acid (R+ ALA), and Green Tea Extract.
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