AliMc wrote:
I never heard of kegel exercise balls until quite recently. Does using them have any effect on giving birth? Like does it make it easier because you have greater control and strength? or harder because your muscles are tighter and they need to stretch? Also do they help with incontinence issues?
General idea is that yes, they help with both birthing and continence, as well as sexual junk. The pelvic floor muscles are the same as any other muscle: the more you exercise it, the stronger and more pliable it'll be. If you think about your arm, if you do a lot of bicep-focused exercises and get noticeably muscular there, you don't lose the ability to straighten your arm (relax the muscle), but you have much more control and strength in tightening it. So in theory it doesn't affect how loose it can be, just how tight it can be. Also, it's not purely strength you're working on, it's tone, too. This essentially is the same as keeping the muscle warmed up: it can be stretched further without breaking, hurting, or otherwise seizing up, and will return back to its 'rest' state much easier than if it were forced to that point. most midwives - if not all - will make a seriously big deal about pushing you to do your pelvic floor exercises, because it not only makes the vagina more supple - and thus less likely to tear during stretching - but it improves control over all things in the area, including controlling urination, which can be damaged by the muscle weakening caused by the stretching. It's much better as a preventative than a cure, but assuming the incontinence issues are relatively mild, and the woman is happy to really put some effort in, it can definitely help there, too.
00cat wrote:
i got some just the other day, but i put them in, not too much lube, after a few minutes just just fall out, am i doing somthing wrong. I had a baby 18 months ago so i must be very lose down there. is there anything i can do to help?
As Lady.Gasm.X says, try making sure you're doing the ball-less exercises to improve the tone anyway. My midwife used to tell us to tense like we're trying to stop mid-pee, and concentrate on not interrupting regular breathing, then hold for ten seconds and relax over five, and do three reps of that every time you pass a 'landmark' such as the kitchen sink or the middle step on the stairs. Also, for the balls you were using, it might help adding more lube to see if you can push them up further; don't make it uncomfortable, but you want to be able to let the entrance to the vagina close around the string rather than have a ball already prying it open. And check that you've not gone for something too heavy or small. Try not to psych yourself out about being "too loose" as well, if you're not having incontinence issues then your muscles are strong enough to pass muster, it's just improving on them rather than fixing them (and even if you were, the difference between "too loose" and "fine" is pretty slim, and easily attained if you get into the habit of regular workouts).