Urinary & Bowel
Incontinence
This is the
inability to stop urine and stool leakage.
It is a common problem that is shared by many
men and women throughout their life cycle.
Incontinence can be embarrassing and interferes
with living a normal life. Incontinence is
treatable. This brochure will explain the different
causes and types of incontinence along with
physical therapy management.
- Causes of Incontinence
- Childbirth
- Organ prolapse
- Constipation
- Prostatectomy
- Menopause
- Neurological conditions
Types of
Incontinence
Urge Incontinence
People with
urge incontinence lose urine as soon as they
feel a strong need to go to the bathroom.
Stress Incontinence
With stress incontinence, people lose urine when they exercise, cough, sneeze
or laugh.
Mixed Incontinence
This is a combination
of both urge and stress incontinence.
Fecal Incontinence
People have little or no control of their bowel movements.
Physical Therapy Treatment
The pelvic floor
muscles act as a sling to keep the pelvic organs
lifted. If these muscles weaken, the pelvic
organs may drop down, causing incontinence.
Pelvic floor exercises, called Kegels, can
strengthen these muscles and reduce leakage.
How
to Find Pelvic Floor Muscles?
Biofeedback is
a simple and painless technique. A small contoured
sensor is placed in your vagina or rectum.
The sensor reads electrical signals given off
when you contract or relax your muscles. These
signals are then shown on a computer screen.
By helping you locate your pelvic floor muscles,
biofeedback can help you learn how to most
effectively strengthen them.
Electrical
Stimulation uses a similar type
of sensor and equipment as is used for biofeedback.
During electrical stimulation, tiny painless
amounts of electric current are sent through
the muscles of your pelvic floor. For people
with stress incontinence and very weak or
damaged pelvic floor muscles, electrical
stimulation can help these muscles contract
so they become stronger. For those with urgency,
electrical stimulation may help the bladder
relax and prevent it from contracting unnecessarily.
Vaginal Weights can
be used as a training aid to locate, identify
and strengthen the pelvic floor muscles to help
restore continence. You insert a weighted plastic
cone into the vagina (just as you would insert
a tampon). Then you squeeze the pelvic muscles
to hold the weight in place. As your muscles
strengthen, you will increase the weights inside
the cone.
Behavioral
Modification
Diet
Dietary changes will help manage your incontinence. Certain foods may irritate
your bladder, so it's best to avoid them. These include caffeinated or carbonated
drinks, alcohol, citrus fruits and juices, spicy foods and artificial sweeteners.
Bladder
Retraining
Voiding schedules are designed individually, starting with voiding every hour
and slowly progressing to 3-4 hour intervals. Among patients who receive this
type of treatment, 85% show significant improvement. |
