Kegel exercises for men: Understand the technique and the benefits
---(Doctors will often recommend surgery when all you need to do is exercise your groin muscles. Plus, you may find 'its' harder and takes longer than it has in years. So you may be getting out of bed at night, but its for the right damn reasons!)
Kegel exercises for men can help improve bladder control and possibly improve sexual performance. Here's a guide to doing Kegel exercises correctly. By Mayo Clinic Staff
Think Kegel exercises are just for women? Think again.
Kegel exercises for men can strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which support the bladder and bowel and affect sexual function. With practice, Kegel exercises for men can be done discreetly just about anytime — whether you're relaxing on the couch or driving your car.
Before you start doing Kegel exercises, find out how to locate the correct muscles and understand the proper technique.
Benefits of Kegel exercises for men
Many factors can weaken your pelvic floor muscles, including the surgical removal of the prostate (radical prostatectomy) and conditions such as diabetes and overactive bladder.
You might benefit from doing Kegel exercises if you:
Have urinary or fecal incontinenceDribble after urination — usually after you've left the bathroomSome studies suggest that Kegel exercises for men might also benefit some men who have erectile dysfunction. However, further research is needed.
How to do Kegel exercises for men
It takes diligence to identify your pelvic floor muscles and understand how to contract and relax them. Here are some pointers:
Find the right muscles. To identify your pelvic floor muscles, stop urination in midstream or tighten the muscles that keep you from passing gas. These are your pelvic floor muscles. If you contract your pelvic floor muscles while looking in the mirror, the base of your penis will move closer to your abdomen and your testicles will rise.Perfect your technique. Once you've identified your pelvic floor muscles, empty your bladder and lie on your back with your knees bent and apart. Tighten your pelvic floor muscles, hold the contraction for three seconds, and then relax for three seconds. Try it a few times in a row but don't overdo it. When your muscles get stronger, try doing Kegel exercises while sitting, standing or walking.Maintain your focus. For best results, focus on tightening only your pelvic floor muscles. Be careful not to flex the muscles in your abdomen, thighs or buttocks. Avoid holding your breath. Instead, breathe freely during the exercises.Repeat 3 times a day. Aim for at least three sets of 10 repetitions a day.
When to do your Kegels
Make Kegel exercises part of your daily routine. For example:
Fit in a set of Kegel exercises every time you do a routine task, such as brushing your teeth.Do another set after you urinate or have a bowel movement, to get rid of the last few drops of urine or to return any feces that haven't been voided to the rectum.Contract your pelvic floor muscles just before and during any activity that puts pressure on your abdomen, such as sneezing, coughing, laughing or heavy lifting.Tighten your pelvic floor muscles rhythmically during sexual activity to maintain an erection or delay ejaculation.
When you're having trouble
If you're having trouble doing Kegel exercises, don't be embarrassed to ask for help. Your doctor or other health care provider can give you important feedback so that you learn to isolate and strengthen the correct muscles.
In some cases, biofeedback training might help. In a biofeedback session, your doctor or other health care provider inserts a small probe into your rectum. As you relax and contract your pelvic floor muscles, a monitor will measure and display your pelvic floor activity.
When to expect results
If you do your Kegel exercises regularly, you can expect results — such as less frequent urine leakage — within three to six weeks. For continued benefits, make Kegel exercises a permanent part of your daily routine.
-----Keeping in shape is a great alternative to dropping the blue pill
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Vitamin D toxicity rare in people who take supplements, researchers report
Rochester, Minn. -- Over the last decade, numerous studies have shown that many Americans have low vitamin D levels and as a result, vitamin D supplement use has climbed in recent years. Vitamin D has been shown to boost bone health and it may play a role in preventing diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and other illnesses. In light of the increased use of vitamin D supplements, Mayo Clinic researchers set out to learn more about the health of those with high vitamin D levels. They found that toxic levels are actually rare.
Their study appears in the May issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
A vitamin D level greater than 50 nanograms per milliliter is considered high. Vitamin D levels are determined by a blood test called a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test. A normal level is 20-50 ng/mL, and deficiency is considered anything less than 20 ng/mL, according the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
The researchers analyzed data collected between 2002 and 2011 from patients in the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a National Institutes of Health-funded medical records pool that makes Olmsted County, Minn., the home of Mayo Clinic, one of the few places worldwide where scientists can study virtually an entire geographic population to identify health trends.
Of 20,308 measurements, 8 percent of the people who had their vitamin D measured had levels greater than 50 ng/mL, and less than 1 percent had levels over 100 ng/mL.
"We found that even in those with high levels of vitamin D over 50 ng/mL, there was not an increased risk of hypercalcemia, or elevated serum calcium, with increasing levels of vitamin D," says study co-author Thomas D. Thacher, M.D., a family medicine expert at Mayo Clinic.
Hypercalcemia, or high blood calcium, can occur when there are very high levels of vitamin D in the blood. Too much calcium in the blood can cause weakness, lead to kidney stones, and interfere with the heart and brain, and even be life threatening.
The Mayo researchers also found that women over age 65 were at the highest risk of having vitamin D levels above 50 ng/mL. The result was not surprising because that's a group that often takes vitamin D supplements, Dr. Thacher says.
Another notable outcome: The occurrence of high vitamin D levels over 50 ng/mL increased during the 10-year period of the study, from nine per 100,000 people at the start of the study up to 233 per 100,000 by the end.
"We were surprised by that degree of dramatic increase in vitamin D levels," Dr. Thacher says.
Only one case over the 10-year study period was identified as true acute vitamin D toxicity; the person's vitamin D level was 364 ng/mL. The individual had been taking 50,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D supplements every day for more than three months, as well as calcium supplements. The IOM-recommended upper limit of vitamin D supplementation for people with low or deficient levels is 4,000 IU a day.
It's important for doctors to ask their patients about the doses of vitamin D supplements that they are using, Dr. Thacher says, because even capsules containing as much as 50,000 IU of vitamin D are available without prescription. If taken on a daily basis, that amount could lead to toxicity.
Some natural sources of vitamin D include oily fish such as mackerel and salmon, fortified milk, and sunlight.
"Our bodies will naturally produce vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight, however, we don't recommend excessive exposure to sun due to the risk of skin cancer," Dr. Thacher added.
In an accompanying editorial in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Dr. Michael F. Hollick, Ph.D., M.D., describes vitamin D's dramatic medical history, the need for judicious dosing, but the importance of vitamin D supplementation in those with low or deficient levels.
"The evidence is clear that vitamin D toxicity is one of the rarest medical conditions and is typically due to intentional or inadvertent intake of extremely high doses," writes Hollick, a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine.
Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by Mayo Clinic. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Their study appears in the May issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
A vitamin D level greater than 50 nanograms per milliliter is considered high. Vitamin D levels are determined by a blood test called a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test. A normal level is 20-50 ng/mL, and deficiency is considered anything less than 20 ng/mL, according the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
The researchers analyzed data collected between 2002 and 2011 from patients in the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a National Institutes of Health-funded medical records pool that makes Olmsted County, Minn., the home of Mayo Clinic, one of the few places worldwide where scientists can study virtually an entire geographic population to identify health trends.
Of 20,308 measurements, 8 percent of the people who had their vitamin D measured had levels greater than 50 ng/mL, and less than 1 percent had levels over 100 ng/mL.
"We found that even in those with high levels of vitamin D over 50 ng/mL, there was not an increased risk of hypercalcemia, or elevated serum calcium, with increasing levels of vitamin D," says study co-author Thomas D. Thacher, M.D., a family medicine expert at Mayo Clinic.
Hypercalcemia, or high blood calcium, can occur when there are very high levels of vitamin D in the blood. Too much calcium in the blood can cause weakness, lead to kidney stones, and interfere with the heart and brain, and even be life threatening.
The Mayo researchers also found that women over age 65 were at the highest risk of having vitamin D levels above 50 ng/mL. The result was not surprising because that's a group that often takes vitamin D supplements, Dr. Thacher says.
Another notable outcome: The occurrence of high vitamin D levels over 50 ng/mL increased during the 10-year period of the study, from nine per 100,000 people at the start of the study up to 233 per 100,000 by the end.
"We were surprised by that degree of dramatic increase in vitamin D levels," Dr. Thacher says.
Only one case over the 10-year study period was identified as true acute vitamin D toxicity; the person's vitamin D level was 364 ng/mL. The individual had been taking 50,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D supplements every day for more than three months, as well as calcium supplements. The IOM-recommended upper limit of vitamin D supplementation for people with low or deficient levels is 4,000 IU a day.
It's important for doctors to ask their patients about the doses of vitamin D supplements that they are using, Dr. Thacher says, because even capsules containing as much as 50,000 IU of vitamin D are available without prescription. If taken on a daily basis, that amount could lead to toxicity.
Some natural sources of vitamin D include oily fish such as mackerel and salmon, fortified milk, and sunlight.
"Our bodies will naturally produce vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight, however, we don't recommend excessive exposure to sun due to the risk of skin cancer," Dr. Thacher added.
In an accompanying editorial in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Dr. Michael F. Hollick, Ph.D., M.D., describes vitamin D's dramatic medical history, the need for judicious dosing, but the importance of vitamin D supplementation in those with low or deficient levels.
"The evidence is clear that vitamin D toxicity is one of the rarest medical conditions and is typically due to intentional or inadvertent intake of extremely high doses," writes Hollick, a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine.
Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by Mayo Clinic. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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