Physiotherapy & Incontinence

Incontinence

Current information suggests that as many as one in four women and one in ten men suffer incontinence. Typical patients include the young postnatal woman who leaks when she coughs or plays tennis, the elderly man who cannot reach the toilet in time because of his stiff knees, the person with chronic constipation, or the middle-aged man who is incontinent following a radical prostatectomy.

Women with stress incontinence who are peri or post menopausal are one of the largest groups seeking advice and assistance with incontinence.

Incontinence is not age-specific. Many people can be helped, if not cured, by the non-surgical approach physiotherapists have to offer.

Role of physiotherapy

Physiotherapists are primary practitioners for both males and females in the area of assessment and treatment of the following pelvic floor dysfunctions:

	mild and moderate uritogenital descent/prolapse
	pelvic floor dysfunction
	urinary and faecal incontinence
	urinary urgency, frequency and nocturia

	defecation disorders
	nocturnal enuresis
	paediatric incontinence and voiding dysfunction

Physiotherapists work as part of a team in specialist clinics and as individual practitioners in the community.

The assessment and treatment of any client presenting with bladder or bowel incontinence, pelvic floor weakness or dysfunction, requires a knowledge of functional anatomy and physiology beyond the scope of undergraduate training.

Benefits of physiotherapy

Physiotherapy assessment takes into consideration onset, duration, severity, bladder behaviour, voiding function, bowel and evacuation habits, obstetric and gynaecological history, together with investigations such as urodynamics.

The status of the pelvic floor musculature can only be truly evaluated following examination per vaginum/rectum (excluding children). A functional and dynamic exercise program is also designed where specific muscle recruitment patterns are crucial. Exercise prescription is then instituted and assessed on this basis.

Additional treatment such as electrical stimulation, bio-feedback, vaginal weights, and electrotherapy may also be used and the importance of function continually reinforced.

References

BØ K, Talseth T & Holme I (1999): British Medical Journal Single blind, randomised controlled trial of pelvic floor exercises, electrical stimulation, vaginal cones and no treatment in management of genuine stress incontinence in women.

Finding a Physiotherapist

Would you like the names of physiotherapists who have a special interest in Incontinence? Incontinence falls under the categories of Women's Health, Continence and Incontinence in our online search - [Find a Physiotherapist online now!]