Urinary Incontinence is the experience of urinary leakage or difficulty holding your bladder. Urinary incontinence is typically due to a dysfunction of the pelvic floor muscles such as weakness or tightness.
Stress Incontinence
- When leakage occurs due to physical movements such as laughing/sneezing/coughing or physical exercises.
Urge Incontinence
- Having a sudden strong, uncontrollable urge to urinate. Often, those with urge incontinence will also fail to reach the bathroom in time before urinating.
Mixed Incontinence
- Experiencing both stress and urge incontinence.
Functional Incontinence
- Leakage that isn’t caused by problems with the bladder or pelvic floor muscles, but by the inability to move or reach the bathroom in time.
Urinary Frequency
- The feeling of needing to urinate more than 8 times (every 2-4 hours) a day.
How Will Physical Therapy or Occupational Therapy Help?
A Therapist will help you restore control over your symptoms, avoid surgery, and eliminate the need for special padding garments or medicines.
During a Physical/Occupational Therapy session, you will:
- Strengthen the pelvic floor to increase muscular control and prevent urine leakage.
- Strengthen muscles of the pelvic girdle, core, and back to increase movement and support bladder function.
- Learn behavioral changes to prevent urinary leakage, such as updating your diet, stretching to decrease muscular tightness, and creating a healthy bathroom schedule.
