Kegel Exercises for Menopause Everyday Health MenuNewslettersSearch Menopause Here s Why You Should Be Doing Kegels After Menopause These exercises can stop leakage, improve intimacy, and more. By Jessica MigalaMedically Reviewed by Sanjai Sinha, MDReviewed: March 6, 2020Medically ReviewedKegel exercises can strengthen your pelvic floor, which can then help ease the symptoms of painful sex.Yakobchuk Viacheslav/ShutterstockMenopause can introduce lots of changes to your body, but one of the most challenging is the weakening of your pelvic floor: the muscles, ligaments, and connective tissues that support the organs in your pelvis. When the pelvic floor weakens, it can cause symptoms ranging from incontinence or prolapse to intimacy problems and more. “The pelvic floor is located in the lowest part of your pelvis,” says Roberta Blandon, MD, a urogynecologist with Edward-Elmhurst Health in Naperville, Illinois, “and supports your bladder, uterus, rectum, and vagina, and aids in the functioning of these organs.” It can change during the strain of pregnancy and childbirth, but also occurs during menopause, when the hormonal shifts that women experience can cause the tissues to thin, contributing to the weakening of the pelvic floor, says Dr. Blandon. And these changes can cause symptoms that linger for years. While the average age of menopause is 51, she says, women live decades after that, so it’s relatively common for women in their 60s or 70s to experience urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when an organ slips down from its usual position in the body, says Blandon. Other factors, such as being overweight, having a chronic cough, or being constipated, can also contribute to a weakening of the pelvic floor. Exercising the Pelvic Floor Can Help Build Strength and Lessen Menopausal Symptoms To combat these changes, you may want to start doing Kegel exercises, which act as a workout to strengthen your pelvic floor. “This allows you to better control your bladder, prevent mild to moderate cases of incontinence, or delay the appearance of symptoms like bulging,” says Blandon. In fact, the American College of Physicians recommends pelvic floor training as a first-line treatment for urinary incontinence. If you’re suffering from pain during sex or problems with arousal or dryness, doing Kegels may help relax the vaginal muscles and improve circulation to the area, which can boost arousal and lubrication, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. That said, when it comes to pain during sex, jumping right into Kegels isn’t the answer. Rather, you should be evaluated by your doctor for other causes first, says Blandon, including a urinary tract infection (UTI), muscle spasms, or dryness. It may seem daunting to speak up about your symptoms, even to your own doctor. But if, say, you’re a runner who’s not able to go for your morning jog or you’re in pain during intercourse with your partner, you shouldn’t have to live with those bothersome symptoms. And that’s where Kegel exercises can come in handy. A review of 2,394 women with urinary incontinence published in May 2018 in the journal Clinical Interventions in Aging found that pelvic floor training, which includes Kegels, helped improve the women’s quality of life. That’s important, say researchers, who point out that urinary incontinence causes people to change their lifestyle so much that they’re more at risk for isolation, reduced sexual activity, and depression. Additionally, an October 2018 Cochrane review concluded that pelvic floor training could “reduce the number of leakage episodes” and the amount of leakage a person experiences, so much so that it can be considered a cure for stress urinary incontinence. So Kegels can be a relatively simple way to better your health. How to Do Kegels Correctly One of the best things about Kegels is that you can do them anywhere. But it’s important to do them correctly. It can be difficult to know if you’re contracting the right group of muscles, says Blandon. For example, she says that some people incorrectly think a Kegel involves tightening their core or closing their legs. Here are three ways to know if you’re performing these exercises correctly.Imagine you’re trying to stop yourself from passing gas. Squeeze your rectal muscles.Position yourself in front of a mirror and look at your vaginal opening. “Try to squeeze the space between your vagina and rectum, which is called the perineum,” says Blandon.Insert a clean finger into your vagina and squeeze. “You should feel the muscles of the vagina tighten around your finger. Being able to trap your finger in there is a sign of a strong Kegel,” says Blandon. Hold each squeeze for three to five seconds and then relax. That’s one “rep” or sequence, says Blandon. Perform 10 reps, three times per day. Kegels can be done lying down, sitting up, or standing. “Just like exercising any other muscle groups, like your abs, you want to start slow,” she says. To get in the habit of doing them, set reminders on your phone. You can also build them into your day, like as soon as you go to bed, while a commercial is on TV, or when you’re sitting at a red light. “By introducing Kegels into your daily routine, it will be easier to do them on a regular basis,” says Blandon. For more moderate or severe symptoms, Kegels may not be enough. In that case, your doctor may recommend you to a pelvic floor physical therapist. “These are professionals who have received physical therapy training and are also specialized in the pelvic floor,” says Blandon. In other words, “it’s like having a personal trainer for your pelvic floor.” These experts can also teach you other exercises and techniques to improve motor control, coordination, strength, and muscle endurance. Here’s to a more comfortable future. 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