Types of Urinary Incontinence
Did you know pelvic floor physical therapy can help with this? Urinary incontinence is defined as the unintentional loss of urine. Although this is common it is not normal. Urinary incontinence can occur during/after pregnancy whether the birth was vaginal or c-section. Urinary incontinence can also occur in people who have not been pregnant. There are two main different types of urinary incontinence, stress and urge incontinence.
Stress Incontinence
Stress incontinence occurs with a sudden change in pressure. This occurs with coughing, sneezing, jumping, running, or weightlifting. These activities increase intra-abdominal pressure (which is the pressure within our abdominal cavity).
Urge Incontinence
Urge incontinence occurs when there is a sudden, intense urge to urinate.
Mixed Incontinence
Occurs when you experience more than one type of urinary incontinence — most often this refers to a combination of stress incontinence and urge incontinence.
Can pelvic floor physical therapy help?
A pelvic floor assessment can determine the cause of why you are leaking. Many people wrongfully believe that leakage occurs solely because of a pelvic floor weakness, but this is not always the case. Leaking urine often isn't strength, it's a coordination issue (Do the muscles turn on at the right time? Can your pelvic floor muscle counter pressure/impact efficiently? What else is going on in the body (breath/tension holding strategies) that are influencing the function of the pelvic floor? Here at Shift Physical Therapy in St. George, UT our Physical Therapists can help improve urinary incontinence by:
Assess the muscles (get overactive muscles to start at a better resting baseline so they have more to give & can turn on when you need them)
Train coordination so we can take on impact & quick movements efficiently (needs training).
Improve pressure management (breath strategies, running technique)
Strengthen/build endurance.
Finally, we can build hip & core strength so the ENTIRE system runs efficiently.
