Many women suffering from symptoms of stress urinary incontinence are told to do Kegels, which are exercises designed to tone your pelvic floor muscles.

Many of these women actually do their Kegels, which is great news, since these exercises have been shown to be effective in reducing stress urinary incontinence symptoms.

At the same time, many of these women are doing their Kegels incorrectly, which is bad news. Here's why:

1. These women don't get any relief from their urinary incontinence symptoms.

2. This gives Kegels and other pelvic floor retraining techniques a bad name, since these women claim Kegels "just don't work."

3. Many of these women could experience relief from their symptoms if they learned to do Kegels correctly.

So let's see if we can shed some light on this situation. First, let's review the statistics about the effectiveness of Kegels.

Kegels Do Work, Really!
Studies show that women with stress urinary incontinence strongly benefit from doing Kegels. For instance, a review of recent studies on the effects of Kegel exercises indicates that women who did the exercises were anywhere from 2.5 to 17 times more likely to be cured of symptoms.

In addition, in another study 70% of women with urinary incontinence who used vaginal weights saw improvement in their symptoms after four to six weeks of using them. The Mayo Clinic supports this data, indicating that many women experience relief from their stress urinary incontinence symptoms 8 to 12 weeks after starting to do Kegels.

So Why Don't Kegels Work for Many Women?
That's a good question. If Kegels and other pelvic floor retraining methods are so effective for women participating in these studies, what's going on with the other women for whom Kegels achieve "don't work"?

Two factors: correctness and consistency

Although doing a Kegel, which involves contracting the pelvic floor muscles, can seem like a "no brainer," a staggering 50% of women do this exercise incorrectly, usually because they cannot locate and engage the right muscles. Instead they contract their buttock or thigh muscles. Some women may need to seek some "hands on help" from a physical therapist before they can engage the right muscles.

Consistency is the other issue. Many women think, "Oh, I should do my Kegels!" but then forget to actually do them. For Kegels to work, they should be done daily. Many physicians suggest women do Kegels for life, especially if they have experienced stress urinary incontinence.

Kegels and pelvic floor retraining exercises, when done correctly and consistently, can and do relieve symptoms of stress urinary incontinence. Plus, they are so subtle that you can do them while your car is idling at a stoplight or while you are waiting in line for some fast food (some of the women in the picture above may be doing Kegels ... who could tell?).

If you suffer from symptoms of stress urinary incontinence, doing correct and consistent Kegels should definitely be on your "To Do" list ... don't you think?

Read more about Kegels and New Moms

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/ / CC BY 2.0