As soon as I learned about my enlarged prostate gland from the last blood test, I decided to look into the diet and exercises that could make things easier for me. I found quite a bit on the World Wide Web about the diet that helps reduce the prostate, such as a great variety of nuts and green tea, but I immediately came up with the exercises of my own. Every now and then, I squeeze my anus and my pelvic floor muscles. As I am doing it, I imagine stopping the feces from coming out, as well as stopping the urine flow. Exercises like these cannot but squeeze the prostate, too, and I am quite sure that the squeezing is beneficial for the gland. But I just found out also on the web that the exercises I have invented all by myself are known as Kegel exercises for men, the purpose of which is to improve the control of urination. There are also Kegel exercises for women, the purpose of which is to get pregnant women better at contractions during childbirth. It did not take me long to learn that the name of the exercises comes from Arnold Kegel (1894-1981), an American gynecologist who invented pelvic floor muscle exercises for women in pregnancy. My heart went to the good doctor at once. My co-inventor was a pretty clever guy, no doubt.

Addendum (January 23, 2020)

Slowly but surely, my body is caving under me (“Caving Under Me,” December 30, 2019). That is hardly surprising at my age, for I will be seventy-four in a few short months, but I am doing my best to fight back. And no kidding. To begin with, I walk a lot, and the hilltown where I live is the right place for exercise of my legs. Next, I exercise my hands and feet, my neck, and my spine. Well, I also exercise my bum (“Tighten, Release,” October 6, 2013). Most important, I exercise my anus and pelvic floor so as to bolster my bladder and prostate in line with good old Kegel. And I do not skip a single day in any of the exercises listed above. When it comes to discipline, I am nigh unbeatable (see, e.g., “Rhino Horn, Again and Again,” March 5, 2019). And? Not to beat around the bush, I am doing pretty well by comparison with most people my age. This is obvious at first sight, but it goes much deeper than that. I go up and down the Motovun hill at such speed that most people I know are taken aback. “What’s the rush?” they exclaim half in jest when they spot me. Returning to Kegel, I urinate without any trouble. The stream is strong and there is no trace of pain anywhere. Much more important, I can sleep for eight to ten hours without going to the toilet. And that is no less than miraculous at my age. To sum it up, regular exercise is the key to wellbeing.