Page 3 - Urinary Incontinence

Treatment Options
Treatment options depend on how severe the symptoms
are and how much the symptoms interfere with your
everyday life. These options include behavioral changes
(example altering diet), medication, strengthening of the
pelvic floor muscles, bladder retraining and surgery.
A physical therapist can help patients with stress incontinence.
Therapists teach patients how to correctly strengthen the
abdominal, pelvic floor and lower back muscles to help
treat incontinence. Physical therapists use biofeedback to
help patients identify the correct muscles to strengthen.
Electrical stimulation is also used for muscle strengthening
and to help with bladder retraining.
Exercises
Pelvic Floor Isolation Exercise — Lie
with hips on knees bent. (See photo
on right.) Quickly squeeze then fully
relax pelvic floor. Perform 3 set of 10.
Rest for 10 seconds and repeat.
Do these 3 times per day.
Transverse Abdominal Exercise — On
hands and knees, as shown in photo to
the right, slowly inhale and then exhale.
Pull navel toward spine and hold for 5
seconds. Continue to breathe in and
out during hold. Rest for 10 seconds
and repeat 9 more times. Do these 3 times a day.