What Is Incontinence and How Do You Treat It?

We have patients ask us what is incontinence and how do you treat it. While all situations are different, we can help you understand some of the problems you are having by first telling you what incontinence, or leakage, is and why it occurs. ​

​Urinary incontinence is when a person accidentally leaks urine. While urine incontinence can affect anybody, it is more frequent in older individuals, particularly women. Bladder control problems can be humiliating and force people to avoid typical activities.
​
Urinary incontinence can be uncomfortable, unpleasant, and irritating. Fortunately, there are a number of exercises that can help to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and lessen leaking and other symptoms of incontinence.

A weak pelvic floor can cause stress incontinence (leaking urine when coughing, sneezing, or laughing), urinary urge incontinence (strong, frequent urges to urinate), or fecal incontinence (leaky stool).

While exercising and high-impact workouts can cause issues with incontinence, there are a number of exercises you can do in the comfort of your home to help you improve the strength of the pelvic floor, which should result in alleviating or eliminating issues with incontinence.That is why you should consult with a pelvic floor physical therapist to determine the best course of action for you. We’ll go over many scenarios to decide which set of exercises will assist you to strengthen your pelvic floor.
​
It is important that you know that not all problems with incontinence are the same, there are different symptoms depending on the individual, and there are different types of incontinence. We will talk about two that are commonly confused.

​Urgency incontinence is not the same as stress incontinence. Urgency incontinence, also known as OAB, occurs when your bladder muscle spasms, generating a sudden need to urinate before you can get to the restroom. Women are far more likely than males to experience stress incontinence.When the muscles and other tissues that support the urethra (pelvic floor muscles) and the muscles that govern urine discharge (urinary sphincter) weaken, stress incontinence occurs.

Common symptoms of stress incontinence occur when you are laughing, coughing, sneezing, bending over, lifting heavy objects, exercising, or while having sex. With any activity or exercise that puts pressure on the bladder, leaking urine could occur.
​
Urge incontinence happens when you have an urgent desire to urinate that is difficult to delay. Urge incontinence, causes your bladder muscles to squeeze (contract) more frequently than they should. This gives you the impression and sudden urge that you need to pee, even before your bladder is truly full.

​You may actively support your bladder and bowel by strengthening your pelvic floor muscles. This improves bladder and bowel control and decreases the possibility of leakage from your bladder or bowel.
​
Your pelvic floor muscles, like other muscles in your body, will get stronger with regular exercise. This applies to both men and women.

1. Squats
Stand up and lay your feet flat on the floor. Place your feet hip-width apart. Slowly bend your knees and place your buttocks on the floor. Lean forward slightly while keeping your back straight. Make sure your knees are parallel to your toes.Return to a standing posture gradually. Your buttocks and pelvic floor should stay tight. Rest for a few seconds before doing 10 additional repetitions. Increase the number of squats you do at one time steadily over time.

2. Runner Lunges
Start in a plank position with your hands squarely below your shoulders. Step forward with your right foot to the outer border of your mat, adjacent to your right pinky finger.

Allow your hips to slide forward to open up the front of the thigh of your rear leg. Check that your front knee is exactly above your ankle. Take 12 to 15 deep breaths. Then switch to the other side.

3. Heel Slides
Heel slides work the deep abdominal muscles while encouraging pelvic floor contractions.

Begin by resting on the floor with your legs bent and your pelvis neutral. Inhale deeply into your rib cage, then exhale through your mouth, allowing your ribs to naturally collapse.

Draw up your pelvic floor, engage your core, and move your right heel away from you. Go go as far as you can without losing touch with your inner core.

Find the lowest position, inhale, and return your leg to the beginning position. Repeat. Perform 10 slides on each side before switching to the opposite leg.

4. Happy Baby Pose
When it comes to stretching and releasing, the Happy Baby Pose is a great compliment to a pelvic floor workout.

Begin by reclining on your back with your legs bent. Make a 90-degree angle with your knees toward your torso, with the soles of your feet facing up.

Hold onto the outside or inside of your feet. Adjust your knees to be slightly wider than your body. Then, elevate your feet to the level of your armpits. Examine whether your ankles are higher than your knees.

Flex your heels and press your feet against your palms. You can maintain this pose for many breaths or slowly rock from side to side.

5. Bridges
Lie down on the ground. Bend your knees and position your feet flat on the floor, with your arms at your sides. Tighten your buttocks and pelvic muscles, then raise your buttocks off the ground several inches.

Hold this posture for five to ten seconds. Relax the muscles in your buttocks and pelvic floor, then slowly drop your buttocks to the ground. Rest for a few seconds before repeating 10 times. Increase the number of bridges performed with each set as the days pass.

​Understanding incontinence and getting a treatment plan will help… ​​

​If you are having these problems with incontinence and issues caused by a weaker pelvic floor, we would recommend that you come to see us. We can help you in preventing the issues and come up with a plan to give you solutions for your leakage.Patients that have struggled with incontinence might feel embarrassed, uncertain, and confused as to the issues they are having and might not know where to turn. Proper physical therapy and getting a treatment plan together will help you tremendously.

We want to help you feel that you are in control of your own body and if you are struggling with incontinence don’t wait to come to see us.

Don’t waste any more time debating the reason; uncover the answers you’re looking for – and take the necessary measures – right now. Contact one of our physical therapists now at 208-237-2080 for more information on how we can help you overcome your struggle with incontinence. We look forward to assisting and supporting you on your path to wellne
ss!

If you’re struggling with incontinence and you want a plan to help alleviate it – our team is here to help!
You can get quick, natural pain relief so you don’t need to take pills on a regular basis.
​
You can also discover the root cause of the problem, which will mean that you can stop it once and for all, and avoid it coming back in the future.If you are looking for a drug-free solution for incontinence then come in for a free incontinence session.

If you are still struggling with incontinence you can also download the free report or schedule a Free Telephone Consultation to find out the best treatment options available to you!

If you want answers to your leakage and feel that we can help you then contact our friendly team at 208-237-2080 and we can arrange a convenient time for you to visit.
Other Natural Pain Relief Solutions
Download our Free Back Pain Report, Free Knee Pain Report,  or Free Neck And Shoulder Pain Report
Read Our Blog – How does lifting affect your pelvic floor? 
Follow Us On Social Media – Highland Physical Therapy Facebook and Highland PT Instagram