Salisbury Child & Adolescent Enuresis
Pelvic floor muscle exercises
Finding the right muscles
- Try to stop the flow of urine when you're sitting on the toilet. If you can do this, you've found the right muscles to exercise (your pelvic floor muscles).
- Imagine you're trying to stop passing wind, and squeeze these muscles. If you have a 'pulling' feeling at your back passage, then you're squeezing the right muscles.
- Be careful not to squeeze other muscles at the same time, such as muscles in your thighs, back and stomach. Squeeze only the muscles of your pelvic floor, and don't hold your breath! Breathe slowly and deeply.
- Draw these muscles up and in. Try not to strain down. Rest a hand lightly on your stomach. If you feel your stomach pushing out against your hand, then you're straining down.
Get the most benefit from your exercise
- You should do pelvic floor muscle exercises every day.
- Pull in the muscles of your pelvic floor and hold for four seconds. Then relax for four seconds.
- Repeat this 10 to 15 times each time you exercise. Work up to holding each contraction for six seconds, eight seconds and then 10 seconds.
- Do your exercise for five minutes at least three times a day in different positions: lying down, sitting and standing.
- You can do these exercises anywhere and anytime, but they usually don't work as well if you do them watching television, for example. You need to concentrate, especially at first.
Get into a routine of doing the exercises. For example, you may like to do them five minutes before you get up in the morning and five minutes before you go to sleep.
