Womens' Health

Pelvic floor muscles are most often abused in childbirth and in carrying a baby to full-term. The effects of these can be minimised with correct performance of pelvic floor exercises, both preventatively and post-natally.

The obvious signs of pelvic floor dysfunction are:

• Incontinence
• Bladder and/or Uterus prolapse
• Pregnancy related pelvic pain
• Chronic Low Back Pain

Incontinence

Is generally classified as either:

• Stress Incontinence – this is where the pelvic floor muscles are too weak to counter the strain of increased downward pressure – such as with a sneeze, cough or jumping
• Urge Incontinence – is related to poor nerve messages telling the bladder, which is a muscle in itself, to contract at a time when we don’t want it to (and the pelvic floor muscles can’t block off the resulting flow)
• Mixed Incontinence – this is all too common and is, as the name suggests, a combination of both of the above.

For over 7 years now our physiotherapists have been using Real-Time Ultrasound to identify and teach correct pelvic floor contractions. In an internal study over a 12-month period a whopping 87% of patients were practicing the wrong thing AND MAKING THEIR INCONTINENCE WORSE. The benefit to patient and therapist of the ultrasound is that you can see the pelvic floor muscles contract, you can use the image to alter your contraction and you can be sure you are spending your time practicing a correct and beneficial contraction.

Different strategies are employed for each type of incontinence and these can be readily discussed with you during your consultation.

Even if you have tried pelvic floor exercises in the past without success, the chances are you are one of the 87% discussed above. Make an appointment today and ensure you aren’t unnecessarily living with the inconvenience of incontinence.