ClinicSpeak: pelvic floor exercises

Have you started doing pelvic floor exercises? More evidence they work. #ClinicSpeak #MSResearch #MSBlog

"I have recently done a ClinicSpeak post on pelvic floor exercises and came to the conclusion that all MSers should be doing them as part of their daily exercise routine. Have you started?"

"The study below reinforces the message; pelvic floor exercises whether done actively or passively with electrical stimulation work.  Amazingly they improved quality-of-life, symptoms of an overactive bladder, perineal contraction strength and anxiety and depression. If you want to start doing pelvic floor exercises you can use one the following self-help guides (guide 1, guide 2, guide 3, guide 4 for men) or you can ask your neurologist or nurse specialist to refer you."


"The following are the headline survey results you so kindly completed for me for the debate I did on this topic earlier this year. They confirm that this is an area that needs attention."



Epub: Ferreira et al. Impact of a Pelvic Floor Training Program Among Women with Multiple Sclerosis: A Controlled Clinical Trial. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2015 Apr 16.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of two programs for strengthening the pelvic floor on the urinary incontinence of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).


DESIGN: This is a prospective study of the clinical trial type, monitored for 6 mos, in which 24 women in the moderate stage of MS participated in a program of exercises for strengthening the pelvic floor-associated (experimental group) or not (control group) with electrotherapy. The variables analyzed were as follows: quality-of-life, overactivity of the bladder, perineal contraction, and level of anxiety and depression. The statistical procedures involved multivariate analyses of repeated measurements, with a significance of 5%.

RESULTS: Initial homogeneity being observed in the anthropometric and clinical variables, both protocols resulted in improvements in quality-of-life (P = 0.001), overactive bladder (P = 0.001), perineal contraction (P = 0.004), and level of anxiety (P = 0.001) and depression (P = 0.001), in relation to the initial comparison. The association of electrotherapy with strengthening exercises increased the improvement of the patients regarding overactive bladder (P = 0.039) and perineal contraction (P = 0.001), in comparison with the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: The results reinforce the benefit of exercises for strengthening the musculature of the pelvic floor in women with overactive bladder in MS and demonstrate a potential of the action when associated with electrotherapy.

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