KEGEL (Kay-Gull) exercises are exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and should be started immediately after your initial visit with your robotic surgeon. These muscles contract and relax under your command to control the opening and closing of your bladder. When they are weak, urine leakage may result. However, through regular exercise you can build up their strength and endurance and, in many cases, regain bladder control. The Kegel exercises will be stopped prior to surgery and re-started One Week after catheter removal.
Begin by Locating the Muscles to Be Exercised:
- As you begin urinating, try to stop or slow the urine without tensing the muscles of your legs, buttocks, or abdomen. It is very important not to use these muscles because only the pelvic floor muscles help with bladder control.
- When you are able to slow or stop the stream of urine, you have located the correct muscles. Feel the sensation of the muscles pulling inward and upward.
TIP: In order to find the correct muscle to squeeze, stand in front of a mirror and raise your penis- this is the muscle you are trying to isolate.
Now You Are Ready To Exercise Regularly: When you have located the correct muscles, set aside time each day for exercising: morning, afternoon, evening, and at bedtime. Squeeze your muscles to the slow count of 10 seconds and relax for 10 seconds. This makes one set. Complete 10 sets starting off with maybe just 2 times a day, then increasing to 3 or 4 times. When you feel that leakage may occur, squeeze and hold for 10 seconds and relax. If it starts again, repeat until the leakage has quit.
TIP: In the beginning, check yourself frequently by looking in the mirror or by placing your hand on your abdomen and buttocks to ensure that you do not feel your belly, thighs, or buttocks move. If there is movement, continue to experiment until you have isolated just the muscles of your pelvic floor.