Q: Will exercises help my uterine prolapse? I am 42 years old and my doctor has diagnosed that I have 3rd grade uterine prolapse. I feel no problem at present. The doctor suggested a uterus removal operation. She also told pessaries may cause allergies or ulcer. Before that you have mentioned about pelvic floor muscles exercise [kegel], which is guided by biofeedback. I cannot understand what is biofeedback. Kindly explain. I do not want to get operated now as I feel no discomfort. The physiotherapist taught me some exercises like lying on the floor and raising the legs to do cycling. Also pressing the buttocks on a towel, pelvic curls, knee presses, burn out exercises. I asked whether these exercises are the same as kegel exercises, she replied that she had not heard of kegel exercise & I am the 1st one to come for this kind of physiotherapy. Please explain biofeedback and kegel exercise.

A:KEGEL’S EXERCISES: Go to the bathroom and sit on the toilet In the middle of your stream of urine, stop and start the stream several times. The muscles you use to do this are your PC muscles. At first, you may find that you are also squeezing your anal muscles; as you become experienced with kegel exercises, try to separate out the muscle groups that you are able to exercise by squeezing. Now that you have located your PC muscles, you can exercise them while your bladder is completely empty. Simply tighten and relax the muscle over and over, about 200 times a day. These are basic kegels. There are many variations on kegels: elevator kegels (Where you tighten slowly, in increments going in and out, like an elevator stopping on several floors), you can hold the muscle tightened for five seconds, you can bulge the muscles out at the end, and many other variations. Do not contract abdominal, thigh, leg or buttocks muscles while doing the exercises. This makes them less effective. Keep breathing during the exercises. Learn to relax while doing the exercises and concentrate on isolating the right muscles. Electrical stimulation is usually performed daily, for 15 to 20 minutes. After doing Kegel exercises regularly for at least six weeks, you can expect to see some improvement. BIOFEEDBACK: Biofeedback therapy involves using electronic instrumentation to obtain information about specific pathophysiological patterns and then developing voluntary control techniques to change those patterns to reduce or eliminate symptoms. This therapy is cost-effective for treatment of chronic, benign problems because it reduces long term medication use, the frequency of emergency room visits and physician consultations. It is often prescribed to those who want alternatives to medication, no side effects, recovery from chemical dependency, or relief beyond medication. Surface electromyography (SEMG), electrodes are attached to the persons skin, over the muscles being evaluated. These electrodes monitor the electrical activity of the affected muscle and produce an electronic signal indicative of increases or decreases in muscle tension. Changes in the electronic signal are clearly displayed on the computer screen, for convenient view by both therapist and patient. A typical biofeedback treatment session has three components: counselling, instrument feedback and general relaxation training. A person must have the ability consciously to return a muscle to a relaxed state when it is not in use. Reductions in muscle pain occur about three weeks after normal relaxation ability is attained.