Abstract
In a study of the effects of vaginal musculature contractions (Kegel's exercises) on both subjective and physiological measures of sexual arousal, 30 normal females were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The first group was informed about these exercises and was asked to practice them both during lab sessions and during the week intervening between sessions. The second group was informed concerning the effects of Kegel's exercises but did not practice contractions. A control group received no information regarding these exercises. Measures of vaginal vasocongestion and subjective ratings of sexual arousal were obtained during two 31-minute lab sessions. Vaginal contractions enhanced both subjective ratings and physiological measures of arousal. When combined with self-generated fantasy, tensing further augmented arousal. These effects were not further enhanced after 1 week of practice. The present study provides empirical support for the prescription of Kegel's exercises to normal women as an enhancer of sexual arousal. Further study of the effects of Kegel's exercises on a sample of dysfunctional women is necessary to determine the applicability of these results to a clinical population.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Byers, N. (1974). Unpublished master's thesis, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Dengrove, E. (1971). The mechanotherapy of sexual disorders.J. Sex. Res. 7: 1–12.
Geer, J. H. (1980). Measurement of genital arousal in human males and females. In Martin and Venables (eds.),Techniques in Psychophysiology John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Graber, B., and Kline-Graber, G. (1979). Female orgasm: Role of the pubococcygeous muscle.J. Clin. Psychiat. 40.
Hatch, J. P. (1979). Vaginal photoplethysmography: Methodological considerations.Arch. Sex. Behav. 8: 357–374.
Heiman, J. R., LoPiccolo, L., and LoPiccolo, J. (1979). The treatment of sexual dysfunction. In Gurman and Kniskern (eds.),Handbook of Family Therapy Brunner/Mazel, New York.
Hoon, E. F., Hoon, P. W., and Wincze, J. F. (1976). An inventory for the measurement of sexual arousability: The SAI.Arch. Sex. Behav. 5: 291–300.
Jones, E. G., and Kegel, A. H. (1952). Treatment of urinary stress incontinence.Surg. Gynecol. Obstet. 94: 179–188.
Kegel, A. H. (1948a). The nonsurgical treatment of genital relaxation.Ann. West. Med. Surg. 2: 213–216.
Kegel, A. H. (1948b). Progressive resistance exercise in the functional restoration of the perineal muscles.Amer. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 56: 238–248.
Kegel, A. H. (1949). The physiologic treatment of poor tone and function of the genital muscles and urinary stress incontinence.West. J. Surg. Obstet. Gynecol. 57: 527–535.
Kegel, A. H. (1950). Active exercise of the puboccoccygeus muscle. In Meigs, J. V. and Sturgis, S. H. (eds.),Progress in Gynecology (Vol. II), Grune & Stratton, New York.
Kegel, A. H. (1951). Physiologic therapy for urinary stress incontinence.J. Amer. Med. Ass. 146: 915–917.
Kegel, A. H. (1952a). Stress incontinence and genital relaxation: A nonsurgical method of increasing the tone of sphincters and their supporting structures.Ciba Clin. Symp. 4(2): 35–51.
Kegel, A. H. (1952b). Sexual functions of the puboccoccygeus muscle.West. J. Surg. Obstet. Gynecol. 60: 521–524.
Kegel, A. H. (1952c). Physiologic therapy of urinary stress incontinence. In Carter, B. N. (ed.),Monographs on Surgery 1952 Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore.
Kegel, A. H. (1956a). Early genital relaxation.Obstet. Gynecol. 8: 545–550.
Kegel, A. H. (1956b). Stress incontinence of urine in women: Physiologic treatment.J. Int. Coll. Surg. 25: 487–799.
Kline-Graber, G., and Graber, B. (1978). Diagnosis and treatment procedures of puboccoccygeus deficiencies in women. In LoPiccolo, J., and LoPiccolo, L. (eds.),Handbook of Sex Therapy Plenum, New York.
Korff, J., and Geer, J. H. (1983). The relationship between sexual arousal experience and genital response.Psychophysiology 20: 121–127.
Levitt, E. E., Konovsky, M., Freese, M. P., and Thompson, J. F. (1979). Intravaginal pressure assessed by the Kegel perineometer.Arch. Sex. Behav. 8: 425–430.
Logan, T. G. (1975). The vaginal clasp: A method of comparing contractions across subjects.J. Sex. Res. 11: 353–358.
LoPiccolo, J., and Lobitz, M. A. (1972). The role of masturbation in treatment of orgasmic dysfunction.Arch. Sex. Behav. 2: 163–171.
Sintchak, G., and Geer, J. H. (1975). A vaginal plethysmograph system.J. Psychophysiol. 12: 113–115.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Portions of this paper were read at the 1981 meetings of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex, New York City, November 1981. This research was supported in part by grant NIMH 5 R01 MH34108-02 CEP awarded to the junior author.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Messé, M.R., Geer, J.H. Voluntary vaginal musculature contractions as an enhancer of sexual arousal. Arch Sex Behav 14, 13–28 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541349
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541349