Urinary Incontinence Is Treatable

Leaking urine does NOT have to be a normal part of aging. While it's true that older people are prone to urinary incontinence, many factors increase your risk, including obesity, pregnancy, childbirth, constipation, weak pelvic floor muscles, prostate issues, and menopause. If the pelvic floor muscles weaken, you may have urinary leakage, urgency, and frequency problems. More than 13 million people in the United States deal with urinary incontinence. While urinary incontinence affects more women, men deal with the issue too. 

Urinary incontinence is any undesired urine leakage. There are different types of urinary incontinence. 

• Stress incontinence occurs when urine leaks as pressure is put on the bladder. Think coughing, sneezing, or laughing. It's the most common type of urinary incontinence. 
  
• Urge incontinence happens when you suddenly need to urinate and cannot hold it long enough to make it to the bathroom. You don't get any warning. 
  
• Functional incontinence occurs in many older people who have bladder control but have trouble getting to the bathroom because other ailments, like arthritis, limit their mobility. 

Urinary incontinence can be embarrassing, especially in social situations. Dealing with urinary incontinence may cause you to avoid daily activities or limit your interactions. But you don't have to change or restrict your activities because there are many remedies for urinary incontinence. It is treatable!

Some people may find relief by making simple lifestyle changes like limiting drinking and avoiding caffeine and carbonated drinks. Kegel exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles can help too. But sometimes simple lifestyle changes and kegel exercises are not enough. We recommend pelvic floor physical therapy as a conservative treatment option. 

Pelvic floor physical therapy is a form of physical therapy that helps you to engage your pelvic floor muscles. Pelvic floor physical therapy for urinary incontinence is much more than muscle strengthening. While muscle weakness may contribute to the problem, it's often more about coordination and muscle imbalance. 

At Rainey Pain & Performance, we have therapists who specialize in pelvic floor therapy. There are a variety of treatment options we utilize to manage urinary incontinence. 

• Pelvic floor exercises to either strengthen or relax pelvic floor muscles. 
• Education on how diet can affect symptoms, strategies to reduce urinary urgency and frequency, and how other conditions can affect or contribute to their symptoms (endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, PCOS, etc.)
• Techniques to improve coordination of pelvic floor muscle biofeedback via ultrasound to visualize pelvic floor muscles functioning. 

It's important to keep the pelvic floor muscles strong to support the bladder and organs properly. Treatment options depend on your type of bladder control problem, how serious it is, and what best fits your lifestyle. We'll help you identify, strengthen and utilize the proper muscles. 

Let us help you tackle urinary incontinence. Leaking urine is never normal. We can help you improve it. Give us a call today! ​