- Always rushing to the toilet?
- Cannot exercise, laugh or sneeze without worrying?
- Recently had a baby?
Did you know that over 4.8 million Australians suffer from bowel and bladder control problems?
Urinary incontinence affects up to 13% of Australian men and over 37% of Australian Women.
Quite often the solution is simple..
Most cases of incontinence are due to weakened pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor muscles are a group of muscles that wrap around the underside of the bladder and rectum.
Weakness in the Pelvic Floor can be caused by:
- Childbirth. Stress incontinence is common in women who have had children, particularly if they have had several natural deliveries.
- Increasing Age especially in Post menopausal women
- Obesity
- Some treatments for prostate cancer. This includes surgical removal of the prostate (prostatectomy) and radiotherapy.
Research confirms the value of a sustained regular program of pelvic floor exercises. Women treated by Physiotherapists with pelvic floor muscle therapy were more likely to report cure or improvement, report better quality of life, have fewer leakage episodes per day and have less urine leakage on short pad tests than controls.
There is widespread recommendation in the medical world that pelvic floor muscle therapy be included in first line conservative management programs for women with stress, urge or mixed urinary incontinence.
