Conditions Treated

Urinary Incontinence - "Why Keagles is not enough"

There are an estimated 50% of women that suffer with some form of urinary incontinence. Pregnancy is one of the primary risk factors for incontinence. Lumbosacral traumas and abdominal/pelvic surgeries also adversely affect pelvic floor tonicity and sphincter control. The bladder is a highly complex organ that is regulated by somatic and autonomic innervation. Meaning it requires a delicate balance of the bodyÕs nervous system to voluntarily and involuntarily maintain proper bladder function. Therapy that focuses on just proper pelvic floor contraction (Keagles) is not addressing the vertebral and organ dysfunction that is the primary cause.

Normal bladder function allows for comfortable urine storage as well as voluntary and complete bladder emptying. Conditions that cause leakage and loss of control are called incontinence.

Incontinence can be caused by pregnancy, trauma to the lumbar, sacral, or hip joints, injury to the pelvic floor, ligamentous restrictions, motor vehicle accidents, and disorders of the pudendal nerve, weak or damaged sphincter muscles, recurrent urinary tract infections, and pelvic/abdominal surgeries.

There are other factors that may predispose an individual to incontinence which include: certain work-related postures and actions which provoke or aggravate incontinence, hormonal effects or interactions, and medications.

Types of incontinence:

• Urge incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine associated with an abrupt and strong desire to urinate when the bladder is not full. It occurs when the bladder muscle contracts abnormally.
• Stress incontinence is characterized by the involuntary loss of urine when there is an increase in intra abdominal pressure during activities such as sneezing, coughing, and jumping or any form of physical exertion.
• Overflow Urinary Incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine caused by chronically poor bladder emptying, resulting in progressive bladder muscle (detrusor) weakness. This condition may be secondary to scaring in the urethra, kinked or compressed urethra due to prolapse, or following radical pelvic surgery.