Bladder Dysfunction
Bladder problems are very common and can be so incredibly impacting to a person’s life.
This can include problems like frequent urination, bladder leakage, difficulties with urination or bladder pain. While people are most often familiar with these problems occurring after pregnancy, birth, or surgeries, they are problems that can impact all ages and all genders and occur much more commonly than most people realize.
How It All Connects
The pelvic floor muscles can often be involved when people are experiencing bladder problems. These muscles play an important role for bladder function in that they aid in holding in urine, lengthen and relax to allow emptying, assist in controlling bladder urgency and frequency through complex neural interactions and aid in supporting the bladder.
Why Bladder Dysfunction Happens
When the pelvic floor muscles become weak or under-active, tight or overactive, and/or develop altered coordination, we can see each of these functions impacted.
SPH Helps With Bladder Dysfunction
Some of the common bladder problems we treat include:
Stress incontinence
Urge incontinence
Overactive bladder
Urinary frequency or urgency
Voiding dysfunction
Pain with urination
Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome
Chronic prostatitis
Post-prostatectomy urinary incontinence
Pelvic organ prolapse
And much more!
Our Expert Pelvic Health Physical Therapists Are Here to Help
At SPH, we always aim to treat the whole person. We start with a comprehensive examination to determine what is happening around the body and within the pelvis that may be contributing to the problems you are experiencing. We also evaluate very specifically at the pelvic floor muscles and the structures around them to help you determine the best course of treatment for you.
Treatment Typically Includes
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Specific exercises aiming to improve strength and optimize coordination for the pelvic floor muscles and the structures around the pelvis.
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Specific exercises to retrain the coordinated and automatic function of your pelvic floor muscles and retrain your deep core function.
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Manual therapies if needed, including myofascial release, visceral mobilization, and/or dry needling to help improve muscle length and sensitivity around the pelvis.
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Education to build strategies to optimize your bladder health and habits, including education regarding bladder health, urgency suppression strategies, and patterns for voiding.
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Postural retraining and specific strategies to improve your body mechanics and movement.
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Much more ~ customized to you and what we identify together in your first visit and examination.
We also have the capacity to utilize tools and modalities like surface-EMG biofeedback or electrical stimulation if needed for your program.
We Are On Your Side
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“ After 8 months of incredibly frustrating and painful chronic bladder/urethral symptoms, Southern Pelvic Health was finally recommended to me by my doctor. Within 2 visits I experienced immense relief from most symptoms, and after visiting about once a week for just a month I am completely symptom free. My doctor, Stephanie, made me feel validated and completely at ease in her care. I looked forward to every appointment knowing I would walk away with a better understanding of my body, as well as the life-long tools I would need to manage my symptoms and properly care for myself. The office always accommodating to my schedule, sent timely reminders for my appointments, and was overall very considerate. After every appointment, my doctor would email me a review of my appointment and update my Physical Therapy Everywhere App with all of the information we had previously covered. This included different exercises, supplement recommendations, tools, etc. I truly don’t think I’ve ever had such an attentive, down to earth and wonderful doctor. I highly recommend Stephanie AND Southern Pelvic Health as a whole, as I can imagine this is the only standard of care they offer.”
Bailey J – Google Review 2023
Resources For Bladder Dysfunction