My Ph.D. physical therapist told me that it just takes time so you might as well just do them naturally. Most women fortunately do them naturally without ever thinking about it the entire time during any sexual sensation of being turned on, beginning around age 10-12, then through any sexual activity, or when pregnant, or in labor, so it’s not a particularly big deal for us to just learn the slight change we need to make to adjust our Kegels to include the entire pelvic floor instead of just our vaginal area.
Learning the proper way to do Kegels from a physical therapist definitely improved my life. I thought I was doing them right, but I wasn’t using my entire pelvic muscle even I was doing them. Before physical therapy, I had such an overactive bladder I couldn’t control, that I was getting up every 10-20 minutes when I was watching a movie in the theater, and usually peeing myself before I could get to the toilet. I see about four movies a week in the theater so this was very annoying and embarrassing to me. And I would get almost no warning and had so many accidents that forced me to leave the theater.
But I taught myself to recognize the earliest bladder warning signs that I need to pee, and then earnestly practiced my Kegels kind of all day so that I could at least get about a five minute warning before I had to go out to the toilet. Now I can make it through most movies with only one trip to the bathroom, thanks to the ability to flex my Kegels to keep the pee in. Same thing in big box stores - now, 95% of the time, I get enough warning to make it to the bathroom.
So I ***definitely*** recommend investing in doing your Kegels. I have an electronic stimulator for my back (a.k.a. a TENS unit), and it helps a little bit while I’m wearing it – but that’s the problem – it only helps while I’m wearing it. I get no other benefit from it. It never changed, improved, or strengthened any muscle control or pain in my back. You can’t leave it on all the time, so I quit using it and started using a heating pad any time I’m sitting down.
Now, like I say, I am a woman, so it’s different for me. But I know that I’ve seen both men and women on this website over the years, post that you’ve got to get the proper Kegel training through physical therapy, not just YouTube or Google. I have seen one good YouTube about Kegels but I don’t remember which it was. A man here posted the link. You’ve got to have a physical therapist like actually touch you and teach you where the muscles are. It only takes 1-3 sessions so it’s pretty fast and easy learning.
Most men on here who had RPs say it takes 1-2 years but ultimately most gave to continue wearing pads for the rest of their lives. A few get lucky and do not.
I think @thudson1965 may have a good list he made to share with you about Kegels. He watches the forum still but also gets severe migraines so can’t always respond.
