Stopping the Leaky Pipes
How many of you readers have had the experience of leaking a little urine (or maybe a lot) when you giggle with your friends or have a sneezing attack in this height of allergy season? If you admitted to this (and know that you aren’t alone if you did), do you know that you can do something about it with physical therapy?
Pelvic floor PT can have a huge impact on the symptoms of stress incontinence (typically from cough/laugh/sneeze) of both bladder and bowel. It was found in one study that targeted strengthening was effective in improving uncontrolled urine loss by as much as 38% in one week and 74% after one month. A pelvic floor PT can evaluate your muscle control via an internal assessment thanks to extra training that we receive in order to help individuals with issues just such as this. We will help you learn how to coordinate all the muscles in the pelvis to lift and close so that you can stop things from leaking when you don’t want them too. There are in fact 3 layers of muscle in the pelvic floor that all must work together to keep your organs of the pelvis where they should be and close the sphincters. We will also address any additional weakness that you may have in the hips or the abdomen because proper strength in these areas will support your pelvic floor to do its job to the best of its ability.
There is a second common type of incontinence: urge incontinence. This type is associated with a strong urge (gotta go NOW) which may or may not lead to leaking but often does. There is usually a weakness aspect here as well and pelvic floor strengthening will be key. You can also use urgency suppression drills to help reduce the feeling: 10 quick pelvic floor contractions and 2-3 big belly breaths. The contractions will set off a reflex arch that tells your brain it’s not time to empty so the brain can in turn tell the bladder to calm down and wait. The breaths then help bring the nervous system back to a better baseline. In some cases though there may be excess tension holding in the muscle and relaxation will be important initially to allow the pelvic floor to find its rightful baseline. A pelvic PT can help to determine the best course of treatment for you based on your unique presentation at your evaluation.
If any of this post resonates with you, we hope that you will reach out to us for an evaluation or at least free consultation with our pelvic PT to determine if and how we can best help you.
LOVE YOUR LIFE
Kristen M Murphy, DPT