Bladder Problems: Mapping toilet locations like a spy maps exits

Do you sometimes wonder if you have a smaller bladder than normal because you feel like you have to pee all of the time? Does being close to a bathroom factor into your decision making about what activities you are going to do?  Do you sometimes wonder if there is actually something wrong with your bladder?

What are these symptoms?

Urinary frequency means urinating more than usual (more than 10 times a day). Urinary urgency is a sudden, strong urge to urinate, accompanied with discomfort in the bladder. These two symptoms together are considered the classic signs of a urinary tract infection. They can also be signs of other medical conditions such as diabetes, hormonal changes, cancer, interstitial cystitis, or prostatitis.  

Impact on the bladder

Sometimes people experience urinary frequency and urgency when the pelvic floor muscles stop functioning because of an underlying medical condition. In these cases, you can continue to experience persisting symptoms even after the underlying condition has been successfully treated.  At other times symptoms seem to start “out of the blue” or because of dysfunctional voiding habits. The system can go haywire when coordination of contracting and relaxing pelvic floor muscles is lost.

How does Pelvic PT help?

Living with urinary frequency and urgency can be very frustrating and disruptive to our social and work lives. The good news is pelvic floor physical therapy can help both women and men. For example, one study has shown almost two thirds of women who participated in 10 weeks of pelvic floor physical therapy reported they felt either “much better” or  “very much better”.

You can expect pelvic floor therapists to be versed in teaching you to both relax and contract pelvic floor muscles in a coordinated way, re-training your bladder, education on how to avoid bladder irritants, helping to improve any postural deviations that may feed into the problem, and guiding you through breathing exercises to reduce intra-abdominal pressure (taking pressure off the bladder and pelvic floor) and promote relaxation.

Our team of Physical Therapists at Body Harmony are ready to help you reach your goals and regain control.

References:

Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy as Primary Treatment of Pelvic Floor Disorders with Urinary Urgency and Frequency-Predominant Symptoms. Adams SR, et al. Female Pelvic Med Reconstruc Surgy 2015 Sept-Oct 21(5)

Written by: Gwen Harvey, PT

Edited: Keely Faridi, PTPelvic