Pittsburgh Bladder Problems

Leaking, Urgency & Frequency

Pelvic floor dysfunction can result in a variety of bladder problems, including leaking of urine, a very strong and sudden desire to urinate, or frequent trips to the bathroom. There can be a variety or reasons as to why these problems develop, including:

• weakened pelvic floor muscles from birth or aging
• weakened or poorly coordinated support muscles such as deep abs and glutes
• poor urinary habits such as going to the bathroom “just in case” or straining to urinate rather than relaxing the muscles involved

Common symptoms:

Stress incontinence: leaking with activity such as coughing, laugh or sneezing, or more vigorous activities such as running or jumping. In many women even daily activities such as picking up their kids or doing household chores can cause loss of urine.

Urge incontinence: leaking on the way to the bathroom when you feel a strong urge to pee but you can’t make it to the toilet in time

Urgency: sudden strong feeling of needing to urinate, even if you recently used the toilet

Urinary frequency: a healthy urinary schedule means that you only urinate 6-8 times total in a 24 hour period. If you’re going more than 10 times a day, with frequent stops every hour, then this is likely a problem for you.

Treatment techniques that we use to help you get better:

1. Assessment of pelvic floor muscles via internal strength testing
   
2. Checking pelvic floor muscles for poor coordination and teaching you to properly contract as well as fully relax your pelvic floor muscles
3. Behavioral assessment including: bladder diary for urinary frequency, education regarding foods and drinks that can irritate your bladder, implementing relaxation techniques to retrain your bladder to fill to capacity before emptying, rather than frequently going throughout the day just because you need to go “a little bit.”
4. Assessment of strength for supporting structures such as hips and glutes, and a personalized exercise program to help you target your areas of weakness
5. Tapping into your “deep core” by using vital breathing techniques and stretching to reduce hypertonic pelvic floor muscles