What is Kegel Exercise?

Kegel exercises are pelvic floor exercises performed to strengthen the figure-of-eight pelvic muscles (love muscles) that surround the vagina, urethra, and anus in women. They are named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, who developed them. Pelvic floor muscles are the muscles that are voluntarily controlled during urination, sexual intercourse, and defecation. Unfortunately, in women with vaginismus, these voluntary muscles contract reflexively, involuntarily, and close the vagina.

Kegel exercises were developed to prevent urinary incontinence in women and to ensure bladder control.

Many factors can weaken your pelvic floor muscles, including pregnancy, childbirth, surgery, aging, constipation or a chronic cough, and being overweight.

These exercises can be done for sexual life, during pregnancy, after birth to strengthen pelvic muscles, for bladder control and to prevent urinary incontinence.

Kegel exercises also have a very important place in the treatment of vaginismus.

Additionally, Kegel exercises have a positive effect on penile erection in men.

The basic principle in vaginismus treatment is to ensure that the person consciously contracts and relaxes these muscles, eliminating the conditioned reflex and preventing involuntary contractions.

How to do Kegel Exercise?

A person can best feel their pelvic muscles (or love muscles) while urinating on the toilet. The muscles that work when you hold in urine are the pelvic muscles (or love muscles). It's important to repeat this exercise several times, holding and releasing urine while urinating. Focus on your pelvic muscles while doing this. This way, you'll learn which muscles you're using. Your abdominal and thigh muscles shouldn't be contracted during this time. If they are, it's because you're doing it incorrectly. Muscle control is learned by holding and releasing urine while urinating on the toilet, but the exercises should be done in a comfortable environment from now on. Kegel exercises aren't obvious from the outside. You need to work on developing good muscle control—that is, consciously contracting and relaxing the muscles, not reflexively. Contract your pelvic muscles (or love muscles) for 3–5 seconds while inhaling, hold the contraction for 3–5 seconds, and then slowly relax them as you exhale. Contract them again and hold the contraction for 3–5 seconds. Then relax. Repeat these exercises 5-10 times a day, at least 20 times per set. It's important to focus on the vagina during this training. This will help you consciously control the pelvic muscles (love muscles) that allow the vagina to open. While doing the exercises, women with vaginismus can lie on the bed and observe their genitals with a mirror. The mirror can help you observe the contraction and relaxation. Once you've learned the Kegel exercise, contracting the pelvic muscles during intercourse while the penis is in the vagina can be pleasurable.