Why Kegels might not eliminate urinary incontinence
As a Pelvic Health PT, I’ve been at odds with the over-prescription of Kegels as a silver bullet ‘cure’ for all things wrong in the pelvis, specifically urinary incontinence (UI). This could be a much longer blog post, but I stuck to the top 3 reasons why I think Kegels are generally ineffective.
Urinary incontinence may come from weak pelvic muscles, but not all weak muscles need strengthened. Let’s look at a bicep muscle. It needs to contract AND release. It will be weak if it cannot easily contract and it will also be weak if it cannot fully release! The same is true for the pelvic muscles, and the latter situation is much more common believe it or not! It’s important to understand which category your pelvic muscles fall into in order to effectively address it!
Kegels don’t replicate function. Pelvic muscles never work in isolation, so why train them that way? We are taught to do them in the car while at a stop light. And repeat over and over throughout the day. One thousand bicep curls don’t help you much with a half marathon. So an isolated contraction isn’t actually what is required when you bend to lift your toddler or when you perform burpees at the gym. We need to focus on functional re-training our core system to optimize results.
Many factors can contribute to UI. It’s just a sign that something is off somewhere in the core system. Let’s also take into account standing and sitting posture (alignment matters!). How about if someone has diastasis recti? What about a prolapse? How about someone who constantly grips their tummy muscles or who truly has a weak transversus abdominus? This list goes on….
The best way to assess all the factors that contribute to UI specific to you would be to see a Pelvic Health PT. You can also access all of our Online Programming, right from the comfort of your home!
All women’s bodies are unique. If you would like to know more about how the above relates to your specific condition, email me here. Please also follow us on Instagram or join our private Facebook Group for a ton of free support on common women’s health concerns.
Next Blog: My Response to NPR’s article ”Flattening the Mummy Tummy”