Incontinence and sexual pleasure: the benefits of Kegel exercises

Having a good, toned pelvic floor has multiple benefits. Keeping this set of muscles active helps in particular to prevent organ descent, to increase sexual pleasure, but above all to prevent urinary incontinence with age. In their research, scientists from the Institute for Women’s Health, located in Richmond (USA), wanted to demonstrate the benefits of Kegel exercises against urinary incontinence in pregnant women and those who have just given birth. . The results were published in the September edition of the American monthly Journal of Women’s Health.

The pelvic floor is a set of muscles and ligaments that prevent our viscera from sagging. Located in the pelvic cavity, this floor plays a key role in our pelvis. The muscles that compose it, in particular the perineum, surround our sphincters, these circular muscles which manage the opening and closing of our orifices, as well as their sealing.

In pregnant women or women who have already given birth, the weight of the baby and the intense efforts during its delivery weaken the natural functions of the pelvic floor, which can result in urinary incontinence or descent of organs (prolapse). To get around this problem, it is possible to perform exercises to tone the muscles of the pelvic floor.

Better sphincter control

To maintain or regain the tone of their pelvic floor, some health professionals invite pregnant women to perform Kegel exercises. They would have the capacity to help facilitate the passage of the baby thanks to the flexibility of his muscles, but also to better control the closing of the sphincters.

The purpose of the study was to see what women with urinary incontinence could gain from practicing Kegel exercises. For this experiment, the researchers brought together 368 mostly multiparous participants (who had given birth more than once), of whom 20% (73 women) of them already suffered from urinary incontinence before their pregnancy. They started testing them during their pregnancy and followed them up to six months after they gave birth. A quarter of the participants with urinary incontinence after childbirth had sought care to return to a normal life.

“The risk of urinary incontinence increases during pregnancy, and Kegels are exercises that women phadcan do on their own to prevent this incontinence or even treat it if it occurssays Susan Kornstein, executive director of the Institute for Women’s Health. Healthcare professionals should inform pregnant women about the benefits of Kegels treatment and how to apply it correctly.”

At the time of delivery, 231 participants (62.8%) reported having problems with urinary incontinence. Thanks to Kegel exercises performed with a practitioner, only 33 women suffered from incontinence three months after giving birth, and only 15 women continued to have urinary leakage six months after giving birth.

“The study shows that it is possible to modify practices in order to improve the education and performance of students practicing Kegel exercises. These approaches that emphasize the role of caregivers in preventing, identifying, and treating urinary incontinence can improve Kegel practice rates, decrease urinary incontinence, and improve quality of life (physical and emotional) of women”, underlines Susan Yount, the co-author of the study.

The benefits on sexuality

In addition to better control of urinary functions, strengthening the pelvic floor also improves the quality of sexual intercourse and the pleasure felt. During moments of pleasure, the sphincters contract spasmodically at the time of orgasms in women. In men, the muscles contract during ejaculation, and also help to improve erection. Thus, by improving the tone of the pelvic floor, both women and men can have more intense orgasms, even more often, in addition to helping to control pleasure in women and ejaculation in men.