Biofeedback - Please Read if Kegel-ing

Hi Gang,

I am on the tail-end of the incontinence battle now as I come up to my one-year anniversary date of surgery, which will be July 31, 2008. 

Unlike many of our good friends here, I have only a few very minor "accidents" per week.

My surgeon asked if I would consider biofeedback training to try to clear up the remaining issues and to gain more progress against ED.  I said I would be happy to.

Next week will be my second week in physical therapy and biofeedback.  I was surprised to find that my pelvic floor muscles are still very irritated and out-of-tone, even nearly a year after surgery!  My in-between exercises,  like walking and climbing stairs, did not help as much as I expected.  The readings on the therapist's computer told the true story in black and white (well really in green, red, and yellow).

Anyway... the big message here is that I found that I did my early Kegles incorrectly soon after surgery.  The Kegel method employed by trained physical therapists is very different.  Their procedure is to bring up the strength of the pelvic floor, not only more more gradually that is posted on many web sites, but in a way tailored to a person's individual progress as they work to strengthen the pelvic floor.  This progress is measured and compared session to session by the computer.

I know biofeedback is not for everyone and sometimes pelvic floor training does not help folks.  

For people like me with only a few problems to resolve, perhaps even 1-2 pads per day, it might be something to consider.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Kind regards, 

Bio-feedback early on was a great help for me. In addition to the feedback my coach had suggestions and ideas that I hadn't considered.

For example, I was going to the bathroom every time I felt the urge. My coach told me my bladder was like a crying baby. If you attend to it every time it cries, you let it control you. You need to let it "cry" and go on your schedule... trying to lengthen the amount of time you hold urine from 90 mins to 2 hours...also drink water as normal -- don't hold back.

That's just a little of what I learned, in addition to seeing on the computer if I was using the correct muscles.