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Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Home Devices
The use of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) to prevent and treat lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), stress, urgency and mixed urinary incontinence and urgency, is recommended by experts and professional guidelines.1-6 Teaching men and women with LUTS how to identify and exercise the PFMs is integral to clinical practice. A successful PFM training program parallels any effective exercise regimen. It requires proper muscle movement – muscle isolation and feedback – with consistent repetition and increased resistance.7 But compliance with following a daily training and exercise program can be a challenge.
Theories of motivation emphasize the positive role that perceived competence in physical activity can intrinsically motivate a person to continue that activity. Research shows that mastering a goal is most strongly related to positive outcomes, such as increased self‐perception, autonomous motivation, enjoyment, and behavioral persistence.8 A successful strategy, used by healthcare professionals to educate men and women on their proficiency with PFM exercises, is the use of biofeedback as part of a training device.9 Delgado et al.,10 noted that the use of a PFM training device appeared to help women gain confidence that they were doing the exercises properly and motivated them to continue.
Diane K. Newman, DNP FAAN BCB-PMD is an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is also the Medical Director of Digital Science Press. For over 35 years, she practiced as a nurse practitioner in urology, specializing in the evaluation, treatment, and conservative management of urinary incontinence and related pelvic disorders, including the use of catheters, products, and other devices in the management of bladder dysfunction. She is an internationally recognized expert specializing in pelvic floor dysfunction and the use of conservative treatments. She has educated nurses and other health care professionals on conservative treatments for lower urinary tract dysfunction and co-authored the first edition of the SUNA Core Curriculum for Urologic Nursing. Dr Newman is currently involved in translational research including in her role as Principal Investigator of the NIH NIDDK Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium, PENN+PLUS Clinical Research Center. She is co-investigator on the NIA An integrated exercise and bladder training intervention to reduce falls in older women with urinary incontinence and the NIH Pelvic Floor Disorders Network Clinical Sites. She is the author of more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed medical and nursing journals and has authored dozens of book chapters and seventeen books on urinary incontinence including textbooks for students, guides for clinicians, and resource books for patients and caregivers.
