The muscles used to stop the flow are the same muscles that need to be strengthened. One of the ways to do Kegel exercises is to tighten these muscles for a count of four and then relax them. Repeat this tightening 10 to 20 times. If you do the Kegel exercise several times faithfully each day, you should see improvement in about 2 months. Vaginal muscle tone will improve at the same time, which may make you more sexually responsive.
Some medications can help tighten the ring of muscles that control release of urine.
Estrogen therapy may be prescribed to increase circulation, tone, and urethral muscle response in postmenopausal women. The pelvic muscles may also be tightened by surgery. Your health care provider may prescribe a pessary, which is a device similar to the outer ring of a diaphragm. A pessary is inserted into the vagina. It gives support to the pelvic structures and may help to prevent stress incontinence.