Physiotherapy improves leaky bladder

Contract your pelvic floor muscles for three seconds, then relax the muscles for three seconds. Do this 10-15 times for several times a day. Although shown here while lying down, these exercises can be done during a variety of daily activities, such as sitting in a meeting, while stopped in your car at traffic light or when talking on the phone.

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary or unwanted leakage of urine. Stress incontinence (incontinence during physical exertion) is the most common form of urinary incontinence, affecting about one in three women of all ages, especially older and after repeated childbirth. It occurs when women cough, sneeze, or undertake physical activities like running and jumping. The physical forces push down on the bladder and force urine out. This is a socially embarrassing problem that is rarely talked about or acknowledged, but simply taking physiotherapy can help to get rid of the discomfiture.
Studies have shown that physiotherapy is cost-effective and successful in treating stress incontinence in both in male and female. Physiotherapy involves strengthening the pelvic floor muscles including bladder muscle and improving their endurance and coordination. The following are the ways how physiotherapy helps manage urinary incontinence.
Strengthen the pelvic floor: It is not always easy to do pelvic floor exercises properly.
Strengthen abdominal muscles with pelvic floor: Recent research has shown that the pelvic floor muscles activate automatically during abdominal muscles contractions. Generally, crunch or half sit up and bilateral straight legs raising exercise in lying posture can strengthen abdominal and pelvic floor muscles.
Retrain components of the reflex mechanism: This is done by contracting pelvic floor muscles during walking, building through jogging which stimulate and retrain bladder control reflex circuitry. Learn voluntarily contraction of the pelvic floor muscles during lifting, coughing and changing postures.
Improve with aerobic exercise: An aerobic training program such as running, cycling or swimming can develop an enhanced vascular system supplying any damaged structures and nerves in the urogenital area.
Recommendations: If anyone suffers from even mild incontinence, s/he has to try to keep her pelvic floor muscles strong. S/he should not do anything that strains the pelvic floor muscles: avoid repetitive heavy lifting and do not get constipated, manage back and chronic cough problems and also should check with physician if any medication s/he is taking may contribute to incontinence.
Remember, pelvic floor exercises need to be a life long habit and try to get into a daily routing and do not bear down and do not hold your breath during exercises.

The writer up is compiled by Dolilur Rahman, President, Bangladesh Physiotherapy Society.
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