|
Patience, a sense of humor and a lack of embarrassment are
required to find and train the Kegel.
Learning to find this muscle is
very difficult. Only 1/3 of women are able to (or contract
incorrect muscles such as the Iliococcygeus). Many can only
contract it to a very small degree.
The Kegel feels like
strong miniature bicep muscle, the size of a man's middle
finger, beneath the vaginal wall surrounded by a thin sheath of
cellophane. You will feel this when you press on the
wall. You will have to seek it out as it is not obvious.. If you are having a hard
time finding the muscle, locate another muscle inside that you
have control of. This is your starting point:
TOP
See Graphic of External
Genitalia for location of Vagina. See Graphic of
Female Reproductive Organs
for general location of the Kegel muscle.
-
Contract this muscle and the muscles around it until you are
actually contracting the Kegel. You'll know you've hit the
Kegel
muscle when you feel flexing at the top of your vagina, close to
the front of the body. This is where it is attached to the pubic bone.
Another area you may isolate it is
at the bottom of the vagina close to the back of your body.
-
To find the place where the
contraction will be at for the front or the “top” of the vagina
insert the index finger only to the second joint and pass the
tip of the finger on the side of the wall about 1 cm (or until a
muscle is felt).
-
Follow this muscle “down”
with your finger for a
short distance almost to the urethra (where you urinate).
-
This may feel like a thin sheath
or a large muscle almost as thick as a finger. If you feel
contraction you have just found your Kegel muscle.
TOP
If you still have a hard time
contracting this muscle, you can also find
contractions close to the back of the body. To do this,
you need to play proctologist.
Insert the finger deeply into the rectum.
The Kegel can be found most easily close to the
“butt-bone” (oscoccsyn) as this area has the most dramatic movement.
Here you will feel the contractions or pinpoint the muscle so
you can learn how to contract it.
Still can't find it? Don’t worry. Nearly one
third of women either
can’t contract it or can only do so to a very small degree. You
may need your doctor to help you locate it (see paragraph below
about the Perineometer). But let's try one last
approach.
With your finger still
inserted in your anus, contract your anus; use a little bit of
pressure until you are able to pull the muscle against your
finger. It will feel like a large finger on the other side
of the wall.
TOP
Kegel Confusion:
A general mistake is to use unrelated muscles (abdominal, gluteal, orintroital regions)
as the Kegel muscle. Many women errantly believe they are
exercising the Kegel when in fact they are flexing the
surrounding muscles. Complaints of fatigue, aching muscles of the back and
abdomen or nervous irritability following exercises are
usually due to unnecessary use of extraneous or non-Kegel muscles.
Resistive exercise the
muscle
and surrounding muscles
This is exactly what it
sounds like, tension against an object. Most doctors whom
practice or specialize in sexual health will have a device called a
Perineometer. A Perineometer measures the
strength of the Kegel muscle by reading the Millimeters Mercury
(mm). This is the same manner that a blood pressure
cuff registers your current blood pressure.
The Definition of the
Perineometer from
Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary 17th Edition
is:
"Perineometer: (Is
an) apparatus for measuring pressure or force that is produced
in the vagina when Pubococcygeus (Kegel) and levator ani muscles
are contracted voluntarily."
This device shows the
amount of pressure she exerts with her Kegel muscles and helps
her to monitor her progress in strengthening it.
Most people don’t have access to a
Perineometer and have to rely on the old fashion
way called “digitizing”. This means your finger (or your
partner's finger) acts as the Perineometer and feels
the amount pressure that is being exerted. Strengthening
the Kegel muscles is really a couple's activity. Her
partner is in a better position to monitor and help than she
ever could be alone so testing and strengthening the Kegel can
truly be a dual exercise between and intimate man and woman.
This is also one exercise that really does enhance the sexual
satisfaction of both so it is worth it to attack this issue
together.
TOP
Once you have found the
muscles involved in contraction it is recommended that you flex
the Kegel muscle several times a day between 10 and 20 reps.
It's something a woman can do anywhere because no one will know
you're doing it but you. Check your progress periodically by
during your annual exam with your doctor's Perineometer
or with your partner's handy digitizer. With practice,
flexing the Kegel will become second nature during sex lessening
difficulties with orgasm or the pain caused by a weak muscle.
What Happens When the Kegel Muscles are Weak?
Dysfunction or relaxation
of the Kegel muscle can also lead to or worsen:
-
Urinary stress
incontinence
-
Cystocele
-
Prolapse of the uterus
(a downward tilt to the uterus.)
-
Decreased sexual interest.
TOP
|
