Kegel Exercises for Women: How They Help Manage Sexual Leaks

Aug 13, 2024

Sexual health is a cornerstone of overall health and wellness, influencing both physical and emotional wellbeing. Yet, it often remains a taboo subject, leading many women to suffer in silence from issues like sexual leaks (involuntary leaks of urine or vaginal fluid during intimate activities). These leaks can dampen confidence and the joy of sexual experiences. Thankfully, there is a simple, effective, and non-invasive method to address these issues: Kegel exercises.

Kegel exercises, named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, who introduced them in the 1940s, involve repetitive contractions of the pelvic floor muscles. These muscles play a crucial role in supporting the bladder, uterus, and bowels. Pelvic floor exercises are proven in research to be the first-line, conservative gold standard treatment for all types of urinary incontinence. For women, strengthening these muscles can significantly improve bladder control and address sexual leaks. This post delves into how Kegel exercises can benefit women facing these challenges.

Understanding Sexual Leaks in Women

Sexual leaks can take various forms, including urinary incontinence during intercourse or even involuntary vaginal fluid release. Here’s a closer look:

Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine and can occur during various activities, including sexual intercourse. This condition is common, not normal, and seen often among women who have given birth or are experiencing menopause. It can be triggered by physical pressure on the bladder during sex or orgasm. The most common form of urinary incontinence is stress urinary incontinence, where urine leakage is caused by activities that increase intra-abdominal pressure, such as coughing, sneezing, or physical exertion.

Coital Incontinence

Coital incontinence specifically refers to involuntary urine leakage during sexual intercourse or orgasm. This type of incontinence can be divided into two categories:

Penetration Incontinence: Leakage during vaginal penetration.

Occurs more frequently and is mostly commonly caused by stress urinary incontinence.

Orgasmic Incontinence: Leakage during orgasm.

Commonly caused by detrusor overactivity and stress urinary incontinence.

Vaginal Fluid Leaks

Involuntary vaginal fluid leaks can also be a concern, especially if they happen unexpectedly during intimate moments. This could be related to excessive lubrication, weakened pelvic floor muscles, or detrusor (bladder muscle) overactivity.

These issues can result from various factors, including childbirth, hormonal changes during menopause, aging, obesity, and certain medical conditions.

Vaginal fluid leakage during intercourse can also be female ejaculate or “squirting.” Female ejaculate is often a combination of diluted urine and milky white fluid that is expelled during arousal or orgasm and is perfectly normal. Female ejaculate comes through the urethra, so it is normal to have a small amount of diluted urine; however, if it is only urine then it is likely incontinence.

The Role of Pelvic Floor Muscles

The pelvic floor muscles, also known as the pelvic diaphragm, form a hammock-like structure that supports the organs in the pelvis, including the bladder, uterus, and rectum. These muscles are crucial for maintaining continence, supporting childbirth, and contributing to sexual function.

When the pelvic floor muscles are weakened, they cannot effectively support these organs, leading to issues like incontinence and reduced sexual satisfaction. Strengthening these muscles through Kegel exercises can significantly improve their function.

Benefits of Kegel Exercises for Women

Improved Bladder Control

One of the most well-known benefits of Kegel exercises is improved bladder control. Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles enhances their ability to support the bladder and urethra, reducing incidents of leakage. This is particularly beneficial for women experiencing stress urinary incontinence. Research shows Kegel exercises also help with urgency urinary incontinence, where you have accidental urine leakage associated with a strong urge to empty your bladder.

Postpartum Recovery

Childbirth can stretch and weaken the pelvic floor muscles, leading to issues such as incontinence and decreased sexual satisfaction. Pelvic floor tissue stretches up to 245% of its resting length during a vaginal birth. Cesarean births can lead to incontinence due to scar tissue formation on top of incontinence associated with pregnancy. Regular Kegel exercises can help new mothers restore pelvic strength and improve bladder control. They can also assist in healing and recovery after vaginal delivery by increasing blood flow and circulation.

Menopausal Support

Hormonal changes during menopause can affect the strength and elasticity of the pelvic floor muscles, leading to issues like vaginal dryness, stress urinary incontinence, and urinary urgency. Kegel exercises can help counteract these effects by maintaining muscle tone and improving blood flow to the pelvic region.

Pelvic Organ Support

When pelvic floor muscles lose their strength and elasticity, the pelvic organs can begin to drop, called pelvic organ prolapse. Pelvic organ prolapse symptoms are commonly felt as pressure or heaviness in the vagina or rectum, the feeling that something is “falling out”, or feeling a bulge in the vagina or rectum. Prolapse symptoms commonly occur with complaints of low back pain, painful intercourse, urinary incontinence, urinary urgency, difficulty with urination, not being able to keep a tampon inserted, or even constipation. Kegel exercises help to restore strength and tone of the pelvic floor muscles to make them stronger, support the pelvic organs, and ease symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse.

Preventive Care

Even if you’re not currently experiencing sexual leaks or incontinence, regularly performing Kegel exercises can act as a preventive measure. They help maintain the strength and functionality of the pelvic floor muscles, reducing the risk of future issues related to aging or life events like pregnancy and menopause. You do need to be sure you are doing Kegel exercises correctly as many women do them incorrectly or overdo them.

How to Perform Kegel Exercises Correctly

Performing Kegel exercises correctly is crucial to achieving the desired benefits (and not causing overtightening of these muscles, which can cause additional issues). Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do them:

Step 1: Identify the Right Muscles

To locate your pelvic floor muscles, here are a few tips to try:

Imagine you’re trying to stop the flow of urine midstream. However, avoid making a habit of stopping your urine flow as a regular exercise, as it can lead to urinary problems.
Imagine you have a straw at your vagina and you are sucking up a smoothie. This really helps to engage multiple layers of your pelvic floor muscles.
Imagine your pelvic floor as a clock. Your pubic bone is 12 o’clock, your tailbone is 6 o’clock, and each of your sit bones are 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. Draw all 4 corners together to the center of the clock and lift upwards and inwards.
The elevator idea. Imagine the vagina and rectum as closing the doors on an elevator. Once the doors are closed, you lift the elevator up, up, and up without using your buttocks, inner thighs, or holding your breath.

Step 2: Find a Comfortable Position

You can perform Kegels in various positions—lying down, sitting, or standing. Start with a position that allows you to feel the contractions clearly. Lying down may be easiest for beginners.

Step 3: Contract and Hold

Tighten your pelvic floor muscles using any of the ideas from step #1, holding the contraction for about 3-5 seconds. It’s essential to focus on contracting only the pelvic floor muscles without tensing the abdomen, thighs, or buttocks.

This exercise is very discreet. You should be able to do this exercise in line at the grocery store and no one should know you are doing Kegel exercises – it’s that isolated.

Step 4: Release and Rest

Release the muscles completely and rest for an equal amount of time (3-5 seconds).

Pelvic floor release and rest is just as important as contracting. Don’t skip this important step.

Step 5: Repeat

Aim for at least 10 repetitions three times a day. As your muscles strengthen, you can gradually increase the duration of each contraction and the number of repetitions.

Tips for Effective Kegel Exercises

Consistency: Perform Kegels regularly to see improvements. Incorporate them into your daily routine, like when brushing your teeth or commuting.
Avoid Overexertion: Gradually increase the intensity of your exercises. Overdoing it can lead to muscle fatigue or can worsen a problem.
Breathe Normally: Do not hold your breath while doing Kegels. Breathe normally to avoid tensing other muscles or bearing down.
In-Home Treatment: Try Flyte. Flyte amplifies Kegels by 39x! Only 5 minutes a day. An active treatment that makes your Kegel exercises more efficient and effective. 82% achieve continence in only 6 weeks, some in as little as 2 weeks. Surgical level results that last from the comfort of home.

Incorporating Kegel Exercises into Daily Life

Making Kegel exercises a part of your daily routine doesn’t require much time or effort. Here are some practical tips to help you integrate them seamlessly into your life:

During Daily Activities

You can do Kegels discreetly almost anywhere—while sitting at your desk, standing in line, or even watching TV. Choose specific activities during which you’ll do your exercises, helping you remember to perform them regularly.

Needing a few extra tips? Check out our blog 3 Tips for SUI

Using Technology

Flyte is the first and only female incontinence device using mechanotherapy technology. Flyte has been shown in research to amplify the benefits of Kegels by 39x, meaning you see results faster than with Kegels alone. Flyte is a way to be more effective and efficient with your treatments for bladder control.

Setting Reminders

Setting reminders on your phone or calendar can help you establish a routine. Some women find it helpful to link Kegels with daily activities, such as performing them right after waking up or before going to bed. This is also true when using Flyte as part of your day, and it is only 5 minutes per day to achieve surgical level results without surgery.

Conclusion

Kegel exercises are a powerful tool for women seeking to manage sexual leaks. Whether you’re dealing with postpartum recovery, aging-related issues, or simply want to improve your pelvic floor health, these simple exercises can be transformative.

By consistently performing Kegels, you can strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, improve bladder control, and enjoy a more fulfilling sexual life with the fear and embarrassment of sexual leaks. Don’t let embarrassment or misconceptions keep you from exploring this effective solution. Start your journey today, get Flyte, and discover the benefits for yourself.

Reference

Pastor Z. Female ejaculation orgasm vs. coital incontinence: a systematic review. J Sex Med. 2013;10(7):1682-1691. doi:10.1111/jsm.12166.

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