Evaluation and specialized treatment of urinary incontinence, including bladder training, pelvic floor exercises and biofeedback. We are able to help patients significantly decrease or eliminate incontinence by teaching them to correctly contract and strengthen their pelvic floor muscles, eliminate dietary irritants and learn to control urges.

We offer a comprehensive treatment program. With a thorough intake and history, we understand what type of problem the patient has: stress, urge or overflow incontinence.  Treatment is geared toward the specific problem.   We ask the patient to fill out a bladder diary, which includes: type of  food and drink, input/output, amount of leakage, and causes of leakage.   

Patients learn diaphragmatic breathing and relaxation, abdominal strengthening and pelvic floor strengthening.  The patient must learn to keep the abdomen relaxed while contracting the pelvic floor muscles in order to prevent intra-abdominal pressure, which causes leakage.  

Many patients have significantly decreased or eliminated urinary incontinence in 6 treatments.  However, it may take 12 to 24 sessions if it is a long-standing problem.    

A.  Urinary Incontinence

There are different of incontinence:

       Urge Incontinence:  The patient has strong urges to urinate, which are very difficult to ignore and cause leakage. Urine leakage caused by "triggers" such as:  "key in the door", pushing the garage door opener, running water, or being in a cold area, are symptoms of urge incontinence.  Urgency is often accompanied by frequency, and there is a strong association with diet because certain foods and drinks can be irritating to the bladder. We provide the patient with information on common bladder irritants  The patient will fill out a bladder diary in order to determine which specific food and drink are irritating their bladder.  We also teach pelvic floor strengthening exercises, bladder training, and breathing techniques which give the patient control over urges, calm the bladder and  prevent leakage.  Urgency can be controlled.  Don't let you bladder control your life. 

      Stress Incontinence:  The patient has urine leakage with coughing, laughing, sneezing, lifting, and sometimes with running, exercising, or moving from sit to stand and other activities. This is usually caused by weak pelvic floor muscles.  Strengthening exercises are necessary for  preventing this problem.  These exercises must be learned correctly in order to be useful.  The patient must learn to isolate the pelvic floor muscles without contracting the abdominals, gluteals, or hip adductor muscles.  Also, there are two types of muscles which need strengthening:  the slow acting, and the quick acting muscles, so different techniques are utilized in training.