Did you know that – 1 in 3 women and 1 in 10 men will experience urinary incontinence (UI). No matter how light, you should not accept this as normal. You don’t have to live with it or suffer in silence. In most cases, bladder problems can be cured or managed better.
Signs and Symptoms of bladder problems
- Leaking urine with a cough, laugh, sneeze or physical activity
- Experiencing a sudden strong urge to pass urine with or without bladder leakage
- Worrying about your bladder impacting your daily routine or before leaving the house
- Waking more than once a night to go to the toilet
- Going more often than every 2-3 hours to empty your bladder
- Not feeling empty after urinating
- A change in flow of urine – stop / start, dribbling, painful urination
- Recurrent urine infections
Common causes of bladder problems
- Pelvic floor muscle dysfunction – this can be either weakness, or tightness or both!
- An overactive bladder
- Connective tissue changes (which can be triggered by pregnancy and/or menopause)
- Prolapse
- Bowel problems – in particular constipation or incomplete emptying
- Poor fluid and toileting habits
- Obesity
- Neurological conditions
How can physiotherapy help?
- Physiotherapy involves assessing all the potential contributing factors for your bladder concerns and can include:
- Pelvic floor muscle retraining
- Bladder calming strategies
- Fluid modifications
- Advice on common triggers of bladder urgency
- Optimising bowel health
- Pessary (if required)
- Exercise prescription