Vaginal Cones With Kegel and Pelvic Floor Exercises
Posted: Tuesday, March 16, 2010
by Keira Benson
What are vaginal cones, I hear you say! Well, for a start they're not cones at all, more like round blobs of silicone ideally shaped for your internal muscles to clench around.
There is proven research that contracting the vagina around a physical body can assist in working out which muscles should be utilised. The practice also coordinates the deep reflex action that results in an increase in muscle tone, whether the women were successful in retaining the cone or not.
Using weighted vaginal cones for 20 minutes a day has been successful in improving up to 70% of cases of stress incontinence and is also aimed at those women who want to improve pelvic floor muscle tone to prevent future bladder problems.
The cones can be used if you want to strengthen your pre- or post-pregnancy pelvic floor but should be avoided during pregnancy or if you have suffered a prolapse.
The various systems tend to involve two or three different sized/weighted cones with the idea being to progress upwards to the biggest/heaviest type and be able to hold it in place for 20 minutes whilst going about your normal business.
If your cone is of the type with a 'tail', you can see that you are doing the exercise properly. Lie down on a bed or the floor and insert the round blobby end into your vagina.
Because they are made of a soft silicone, they should be easy to insert but a water-based lubricant can aid the process.
Once it is in place, clench your pelvic floor muscles around the device utilising the same technique as you would use to stop passing urine mid-stream or to avoid passing wind. The tail of the toner will move downwards each time you work the correct muscles and this should coincide with the internal sensation of lifting up and squeezing. If the tail moves upwards, then the wrong muscles are being tightened.
Once you've got the hang of the exercises, you should stand up with bent knees, insert the toner and then try to hold the toner in place for one or two minutes. If you are unable to retain the lightest/smallest model in your pack, professional help should be sought via your GP or Practise Nurse.
The idea is to build up to the smallest, heaviest toner and keep it in place for 20 minutes whilst doing the housework.
Some improvement should be noticeable after a couple of weeks of regular training. Depending on the level of strength in your muscles prior to commencing the programme, it may take as long as 12 weeks of daily training to notice a difference.
Although some women may reach their goal of 20 minutes whilst continuing to hoover, iron or walk around the house, others will be blocked by a plateau in their training where they cannot increase the time of toner retention and this time frame should become their daily maintenance exercise whilst they wait for further improvement, frequently attempting to hold for 20 minutes.
--------
Keira Benson is passionate about helping women to improve the health of their pelvic floor.
For more information on how regular exercising can help to prevent stress incontinence, please visit:
http://kegelandpelvicfloorexercises.com
For help and advice on vaginal cones and neuromuscular stimulators, go to:
http://tightenmyvagina.info
This Article has been viewed 774 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.