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The Chinese have long used pelvic floor awareness and exercise to
improve health and vitality and Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong is an effective
intervention to prevent and treat stress, urge and functional urinary
incontinence. The Tai Chi Chuan classics instruct the practitioner
to lift the anus during practice and the diaphragmatic breathing
pattern integral to this tradition will tend to provide a dynamic
challenge to the pelvic floor, encouraging appropriate tone. Furthermore,
gentle engagement of the external rotators of the hips facilitates
adequate pelvic floor contraction and lifts the bladder and urethra
through the action of Obturator Internus. This facilitated pelvic
floor contraction, in addition to lifting the bladder and flexing
the neck of the bladder, thereby addressing the most common cause
of stress incontinence in women, also tends to relax the bladder
muscle. The bladder muscle is further relaxed through the relaxation
response and decreased sympathetic drive. By relaxing the bladder,
the pelvic floor will have an easier job of preventing self-soiling
with urine. Finally, by increasing strength, balance, agility and
motor control Tai Chi Chuan may improve one's ability to reach the
toilet in time.
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