VAGINAL MUSCLE (KEGEL) EXERCISES

Good vaginal muscle tone and control are important for several reasons:

In order to improve your tone and control begin by urinating with your legs spread apart. Start and stop the stream several times. After you have done this, get into a comfortable position when you are lying in bed. Put one or two fingers inside the vagina and imagine that you are starting and stopping the urinary stream. You will notice that the muscles on the sides of the vagina put pressure on your fingers. Experiment to determine the way of contracting these muscles that puts the maximum pressure on your fingers. Make sure you experience a drawing up or pulling inward rather than a bearing down. When you have learned how to do this incorporate these exercises into your daily routine. First, rapidly contract the vaginal muscles as forcefully as possible and then release. Do this 10 times. Second, contract the muscles forcefully and hold for 10 seconds. Do this 3 times. When you're contracting your vaginal muscles make sure your abdominal muscles and buttocks are relaxed.

You can incorporate this exercise into your daily schedule so you do it often during the day. You might do these exercises when you comb your hair, brush your teeth, put makeup on, take makeup off, wait for a traffic light, ride in an elevator, watch a TV commercial or answer the telephone. The more you do the exercises the faster you will notice the results. Especially in the beginning it is important that you occasionally put one or two fingers inside the vagina to make sure you are doing the exercises correctly.