Bladder Problems

Misconceptions about urinary incontinence abound.

Please do not think you have to suffer with leakage after childbirth or as you get older. Main types of bladder problems your physiotherapist can help you with:

Stress Incontinence

Involuntary loss of urine occurring with an increase in intra-abdominal pressure such as coughing, sneezing and exercise. An individualised physiotherapy pelvic floor exercise programme helps 80% of women with stress incontinence.

Urge Incontinence

A sudden leakage associated with a strong urge to empty your bladder. Initial physiotherapy treatment focuses on bladder calming techniques, lifestyle modifications, bladder diary and later on rehabiliatation of pelvic floor if required.

Overflow Incontinence

A dribbling leakage occuring as a result of the bladder being overfull due to incomplete bladder emptying. Treatment begins with improved toileting techniques for complete bladder emptying.

Mixed Incontinence

A combination of both stress and urge incontinence requiring a combined approach to achieve continence. This is a common issue that we deal with at our clinic.

Bladder Urgency / Frequency

This can occur with or without leakage of urine. It is normal to empty your bladder 5-7x a day depending on fluid intake. People with urgency and/or frequency go to the toilet more often and have smaller volumes of urine passed.

Some severe presentations have had a diagnosis of Painful Bladder syndrome / Interstitial Cystitis.

Bladder Problems