Verbal Instruction for Pelvic Floor Muscle Contraction among Healthy Young Males

Noa Ben Ami, Ron Feldman () and Gali Dar
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Noa Ben Ami: Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel 4077625, Israel
Ron Feldman: Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel 4077625, Israel
Gali Dar: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-9

Abstract: Teaching Pelvic Floor Muscle (PFM) contraction is a challenging task for clinicians and patients, as these muscles cannot be directly visualized. Thus, this study’s objective is to compare the effectiveness of six verbal instructions for contracting the PFM among young men, as observed with transabdominal ultrasound imaging. Thirty-five male physiotherapy students, mean age 25.9 ± 1.9 years, participated in the study. A 6 MHz 35-mm curved linear array ultrasound transducer (Mindray M5) was placed in the transverse plane, supra-pubically, and angled 15–30° from the vertical plane. During crook lying, participants received six verbal instructions for contracting the PFM, with bladder base displacement and endurance evaluated. Following the instructions, “squeeze your anus”, “shorten the penis”, and “elevate the scrotum”, over 91% of the participants performed a cranial (upward) bladder base displacement. During instruction six, “draw in”, which involves breathing, the PFM, and the transversus abdominis, only 25% performed cranial bladder base displacement ( p < 0.001), and the endurance was the lowest ( p < 0.001). Our findings suggest that several simple verbal instructions can be used for teaching PFM contraction to young males. Moreover, two instructions should be avoided: “draw in” and the general instruction “squeeze your PFM”, as they did not produce effective elevation of the bladder base.

Keywords: incontinence; pelvic floor muscles; transabdominal ultrasound; verbal instruction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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