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How to Stop Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is a problem that effects millions of women. Most often this incontinence is related to a specific action that puts stress on the body, such as hard laughter, coughing or a sneeze. This type of incontinence can happen to women of any age and often leaves them feeling too embarrassed to speak with a doctor. The good news is that by regularly performing Kegel exercises, incontinence can often be stopped without having to result to other more drastic measures like surgery.

Things You'll Need

  • Chart to track your exercises
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Instructions

  1. Stopping Incontinence Through Kegel Exercises

    • 1

      Locate the correct muscles. The muscles used in the Kegel exercises are those of the pelvic floor. Conveniently enough, these are the same muscles used to stop the flow of urine. While using the toilet, practice stopping your stream of urine. Pay careful attention to which muscles you are using to do this. These are the ones you want to isolate during your Kegel exercises.

    • 2

      Set a schedule. In order to see improvement, you will need to perform your Kegel exercises every day, several times a day. You may wish to set aside certain times to help you stay on track, such as when you first wake up in the morning or while you watch TV in the evening. You can also try setting a signal to remind you to Kegel, such as every time you stop at a red light or something else that happens several times every day.

    • 3

      Perform the exercises correctly. Using the muscles that you identified in step 1, contract and hold the contraction for a count of four. Relax for a count of four and do it again. This may be hard at first but over time it will get easier. Your goal should be to do this for five minutes, 3 times per day. You will probably not see any benefits for several weeks as your muscle tone builds but stick to it! Eventually it will pay off.

    • 4

      Track your exercises. It's important to make sure that you are doing your Kegel exercises every day and frequently enough. If you track them on a chart, you will know when you have missed a session or a day and can get back on track. While it does take a while to see results, remember that this could prevent a future surgical procedure and an embarrassing problem.

    • 5

      Increase your regimen. As the exercises get easier, you may wish to work your muscles a little harder. You can perform the Kegel exercises with your knees apart to increase the intensity or you can up the number of sessions you do per day. Kegels don't just help with incontinence, but offer other benefits like easing the childbirth process and increasing sexual satisfaction.

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