We've all seen the television commercial for a bladder medication with the catchy little jingle, and who hasn't walked away from that commercial humming, “Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now!” under their breath?
While we're all familiar with the slogan, what many women aren't familiar with is the idea that medication may not be the only answer when it comes to controlling urinary urgency. Physical therapy is an easy, often effective, way of managing this condition.
Women who suffer from urge incontinence find that they leak in response to the urge to urinate. For some women, the trigger may be that feeling of bladder fullness, for others it may be a auditory, visual or tactile cue, such as running water, placing a key in the lock of your front door, or entering a certain store.
Urge incontinence typically responds well to bladder retraining, education in pelvic floor exercises, and functional retraining in the use of the pelvic floor muscles to delay urge in as little as three or four physical therapy sessions.
The first, and most important step, towards alleviating this issue is to learn how to contract and relax the pelvic floor effectively. This contraction, once mastered can then be used in conjunction with mental distraction techniques to manage the sensation of urinary urgency. From there, women who suffer from this issue can practice delaying the urge to urinate, which should allow for fewer trips to the bathroom during the day. The decrease in trips to the bathroom will then allow the bladder to “re-learn” what its true capacity is, thereby decreasing the intensity and frequency of urge signals being sent to the brain.
Many women have habits regarding urination that they are unaware of, and as they learn what is considered normal with regard to urination, they are able to gain greater control of their bladder and eliminate or greatly reduce their complaints of leakage with strong urge.
The Women’s Health Physical Therapists at PRORehab work with patients suffering from these conditions on a regular basis. Talk to your Physician, Women's Health Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant and start the dialogue regarding your condition. Let them know that you are interested in physical therapy as a treatment option and would like a referral to a PRORehab’s Women’s Health Physical Therapist.
