[via yahoo health]
Posted by Leonard DeRogatis, Ph.D.
In 1948, gynecologist Dr. Arnold Kegel developed a series of exercises involving what is now commonly referred to as the “pelvic floor” to help women develop physical control over the incontinence that is often associated with childbirth.
Physicians generalized the prescription of these “Kegel exercises” to help overcome urinary incontinence from any cause, and eventually urologists began to prescribe these exercises for men who experienced incontinence after a prostatectomy.
A number of studies reported in the international literature in recent years have suggested that pelvic floor exercises are useful in the treatment of a different problem: erectile dysfunction in men. In some instances, Kegel exercises were found to offer relief from ED equivalent to that of Viagra and similar drugs.
Ralph and Barbara Alterowitz report in their book, “Intimacy with Impotence” that a 2003 British study found rates of improvement similar to those “seen in a large trial of men taking Viagra.” Dr. Frank Somer, in a 2001 study published in the International Journal of Impotence Research, observed that pelvic floor exercises had an even higher rate of success than a PDE5 inhibitor (the class of drugs that includes Viagra and Cialis).
Given that Kegel exercises are easy to do, don’t cost anything, have no side effects, and have been shown effective in several studies, it seems to me that they might be worth a try. There’s nothing to lose by trying, and they just might work.
Here are the four steps of a set of Kegel exercises:
1. Tighten your urinary flow muscles as if you wanted to stop urination.
2. Hold those muscles tight as you count to 10.
3. Hold this position while also tightening your anal muscles to another count of 10.
4. Do a set of ten repetitions three times a day.
