Tired of Kegels? Try These Treatments to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor

Pelvic floor problems are extremely common among women, yet they’re not always widely discussed — in part because women think their symptoms are a “natural” part of aging. The fact is, they’re not — and there are treatments that can help you find relief.

While Kegel exercises are the tried-and-true recommendation for improving pelvic floor health, they’re not always effective, and they don’t address all the factors contributing to pelvic floor dysfunction. In this post, E. Jacob Simhaee, MD, FACOG, offers a quick overview of two simple, in-office treatments that could provide you with real relief for your pelvic floor issues.

Understanding pelvic floor health

Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles, ligaments, and other connective tissues that support your pelvic organs — specifically, your bladder, uterus, and rectum. These muscles play a major role in bladder control and sexual function, and when they’re strong, flexible, and resilient, most of us don’t give our pelvic floor a second thought.

As we age, though, the pelvic floor loses some of that strength and responsiveness. Pregnancy and vaginal delivery “speed up” that process, but other factors can play roles, too, including hormonal changes, repeated heavy lifting, significant weight gain, and even chronic coughing.

As your pelvic floor loses strength and elasticity, you can wind up developing symptoms like urine leakage, vaginal laxity, pelvic pressure, or discomfort during sexual activity, a condition called pelvic floor dysfunction. For many women, these changes don’t just cause a loss of bladder control and sexual enjoyment — they lead to a significant loss of confidence and a poorer quality of life.

Kegels: Benefits and shortcomings

Kegels are exercises designed to target your pelvic floor muscles, helping them regain some of their original strength. When done correctly and consistently, they can provide some improvement in both muscle tone and bladder control, particularly when symptoms are mild.

That said, to gain any benefits, Kegels must be done regularly and with the proper technique. Even so, the benefits of Kegels are limited, and it takes weeks or even months of consistent practice before most women start to notice those benefits.

What’s more, while exercise can improve muscle tone, it can’t restore collagen or elastin, two fibers that significantly contribute to pelvic floor elasticity and tone. Production of both collagen and elastin declines dramatically with age, leading to a progressive loss of pelvic floor strength.

Minimally invasive solutions for tissue repair

So if Kegels won’t help, what’s the answer? For many women, relief lies in minimally invasive solutions using energy to stimulate natural tissue repair.

FemiLift

FemiLift® is an advanced tissue regeneration technique that uses the power of laser energy to gently heat deeper layers of vaginal tissue — layers where collagen and elastin are produced. As the energy penetrates these tissues, it encourages natural tissue remodeling, improving tone, support, and lubrication, all while enhancing overall pelvic floor function.

Performed right in our office, FemiLift requires no downtime afterward, making it ideal for even those with the busiest schedules. Most women benefit from a series of sessions to reduce or eliminate urinary incontinence and vaginal laxity while improving sexual comfort and satisfaction. Occasional touch-up treatments help you maintain those benefits over time.

Morpheus8V

Morpheus8V® is another minimally invasive, in-office treatment that combines radiofrequency (RF) energy with microneedling technology to remodel and tighten tissues. Like FemiLift, Morpheus8V uses controlled energy to penetrate deeper tissue layers, stimulating collagen and elastin production while improving tone and support.

Morpheus8V can address both internal and external (cosmetic) concerns, making it a versatile option for women experiencing laxity, mild leakage, or other tissue changes related to aging and childbirth. Recovery time is minimal, and most women achieve optimal results with a series of treatments.

Restore your comfort and your confidence

Pelvic floor weakness is common, but it doesn’t have to be something you have to “learn to  live with.” Both FemiLift and Morpheus8V offer state-of-the-art solutions to help you feel more comfortable and confident. 

To learn more about these treatments and how they can help you, request an appointment online or by phone with Dr. Simhaee and his team at his practices in Manhasset and Forest Hills, New York, today.