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By Cory Silverberg, About.com Guide to Sexuality since 2005

Study Confirms Effectiveness of Kegel Exercises

Monday February 6, 2006

A recent review of over six randomized studies, involving over 400 hundred women, has confirmed that Kegel exercises are an effective way of treating urinary incontinence, particularly stress incontinence. While the exercises are recommended for men, the study only looked at the effectiveness for women.

The review, which is being published in The Cochrane Library (subscription required) was led by Jean Hay-Smith, Ph.D., of the Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.

The study with the smallest effectiveness still found that women doing Kegel exercise were 2.5 times more likely to resolve their incontinence, and the greatest difference in one study found that women were 7 times more likely to resolve their incontinence.

In the past few years, Kegel exercises have come to be associated with increasing sexual satisfaction, but they were originally designed (by doctor Arnold Kegel) specifically for women who were experiencing stress incontinence following childbirth.

Center for the Advancement of Health - Kegel Exercises Reduce Urinary Incontinence in Women, Study Confirms

Read More - All About Kegel Exercises

Read More - Kegel Exercises Before and After Pregnancy

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