What's Going on with My Bladder? Understanding Incontinence and How Pelvic Floor Therapy Can Help
Let’s talk about something that many of us experience but few feel comfortable discussing: urinary incontinence. Whether it's a small leak when you laugh or sneeze or a more constant concern, you're not alone. Millions of women deal with urinary incontinence daily. But despite its prevalence, the topic often remains taboo. I’ll tell you a secret: talking about it is the first step toward finding relief and regaining control.
We’ll start with the basics. What’s incontinence? The term refers to the challenges some of us have trying to control when we urinate, but it can also refer to controlling bowel movements. If you're experiencing bladder leaks or an urgent need to urinate that disrupts your daily life, also called an overactive bladder, urinary incontinence may be getting in the way. Don’t worry—lots of women have similar experiences, especially after childbirth or as they enter menopause.
Understanding the causes of incontinence and exploring effective solutions, such as pelvic floor therapy, can significantly improve your quality of life. What makes me so sure? My experience as a Pelvic Health Occupational Therapist in southwest Michigan has shown that through this approach, it’s possible to reduce pesky leaks and sudden urges and get back to living life to the fullest.
What is Urinary Incontinence?
Urinary incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine. It can range from occasionally leaking urine without knowing it, such as when you cough or sneeze, to having an urge to go to the bathroom that's so sudden and strong you don't get to a toilet in time. The severity of incontinence can vary, but this condition is common and treatable.
There are several different types of urinary incontinence you might experience. Here are some of the common ones:
Stress Incontinence: Leaking urine during physical activities that increase abdominal pressure, such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, or exercising.
Urge Incontinence: Sometimes referred to as an overactive bladder, you may feel a sudden, intense urge to urinate and may begin leaking urine without knowing it. Sometimes, you’ll need to urinate often, including throughout the night.
Overflow Incontinence: Frequent or constant dribbling of urine due to a bladder that doesn't empty completely.
Functional Incontinence: A physical or mental condition that prevents you from returning to the toilet quickly.
Mixed Incontinence: Experiencing more than one type of incontinence.
Why Does Urinary Incontinence Happen?
Now that you can identify which type of incontinence you may deal with, you’re likely asking yourself, But why? The truth is that there can be several factors contributing to your incontinence, including:
Weak Pelvic Floor Muscles: These muscles support the bladder, uterus, and rectum. They help control urination but can become weak after childbirth from aging or hormonal changes, such as those that occur during menopause. We’ll come back to this in a moment.
Medical Conditions: Conditions like diabetes, neurological disorders, or urinary tract infections can affect bladder function.
Lifestyle factors: Excess weight, smoking, and certain medications can trigger incontinence.
In some situations, a mix of factors could lurk behind urinary incontinence. But the important thing is that you know relief is within reach.
Understanding the Link Between Menopause and Urinary Incontinence
Women, you’ve likely heard the M-word before. Menopause is a significant transition in a woman's life, marking the end of a woman’s reproductive years. Once it’s been 365 days since your last menstrual period, you’re officially in menopause.
This transition usually begins between ages 45 and 55. Along with menopause come various physiological changes, one of which can be urinary incontinence. Understanding how menopause affects the urinary system can help manage and ease these symptoms. During menopause, you may experience:
A Decline in Estrogen Levels: Estrogen is a hormone that plays a crucial role in maintaining the health and function of the urinary tract. It helps to keep the tissues of the bladder and urethra elastic and strong. As estrogen levels decline during menopause, these tissues can become thinner, less elastic, and more prone to irritation and inflammation. This weakening can lead to issues such as urinary incontinence.
Weakened Pelvic Floor Muscles: Estrogen helps maintain these muscles' strength and tone. Lower estrogen levels may weaken pelvic floor muscles, making it more difficult to control urine release. This can result in stress urinary incontinence, where urine leaks during certain activities, such as coughing, sneezing, or exercising.
Changes in Bladder Function: Estrogen also influences how well your bladder stores urine and signals when it’s full. During menopause, the drop in estrogen can disrupt these signals, leading to urgency and frequency. This condition is known as urge incontinence, or an overactive bladder, where there is a sudden and intense urge to urinate, often resulting in leaking urine without knowing it.
How Pelvic Floor Occupational Therapy Can Help
Pelvic floor therapy is a specialized form of physical therapy that targets the pelvic floor's muscles, ligaments, and connective tissues. When you work with a Pelvic Health Therapist, they’ll partner with you to strengthen and rehabilitate the muscles that support the bladder, uterus, and rectum. This specialized form of physical therapy can provide relief and improvement for those living with urinary incontinence. Here's how:
Strengthening Exercises: Your Pelvic Health Therapist will design a personalized exercise program to strengthen and improve the coordination of your pelvic floor muscles. This can include Kegel exercises, which involve contracting and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles to build strength and endurance while reducing leakage.
Biofeedback: This technique uses special sensors and video monitoring to provide real-time information about muscle activity. It helps you become aware of your pelvic floor muscles and learn to control them better.
Manual Therapy: Hands-on techniques, such as massage and myofascial release, can help alleviate muscle tension and improve pelvic floor function.
Education and Lifestyle Modifications: Understanding your condition and how your pelvic floor works can empower you to manage your symptoms effectively. Your therapist will guide posture, proper body mechanics, and lifestyle changes. Sometimes, simple changes such as diet and fluid management can support bladder health and ease symptoms of overactive bladder.
Relaxation Techniques: Believe it or not, even stress and tension can lead to pelvic floor issues. Deep breathing, visualization, and mindfulness can help relax the pelvic floor muscles and reduce symptoms.
What to Expect When You See a Pelvic Health Therapist
Pelvic floor therapy offers a range of benefits for women experiencing urinary incontinence and other pelvic health issues.
When you come in for an initial evaluation at Health Elevated, your therapist will begin by conducting a thorough assessment to understand your symptoms, medical history, and any contributing factors. This will include a pelvic floor assessment to see how your muscles are working. We can do this externally (through clothing) or, with your consent, internally (by placing a gloved finger in your vagina or rectum).
Our goal is to provide compassionate, expert care that empowers you to manage your symptoms and keeps you feeling good. One of pelvic floor therapy's most immediate and noticeable benefits is improved bladder control. If you have an overactive bladder, you may find that the need to visit the bathroom frequently diminishes significantly after you begin pelvic floor therapy.
Take the First Step Toward Bladder Health with Pelvic Health Occupational Therapy
Are you a woman in the southwest Michigan area living with urinary incontinence? Don’t go through it alone. As the founder of Health Elevated, I’m dedicated to helping women regain control of their health to continue living their best lives.
Menopause and other life transitions can bring about changes that impact your pelvic health, but with the right approach, support, and expertise, you can successfully navigate them confidently.
If you’d like to learn more about how pelvic floor therapy can improve your experience with incontinence and other pelvic health issues, schedule a no-cost consultation with me today. We’ll discover new ways and natural remedies to help with bladder symptoms.
