Women’s Health is NEW to Rouse Hill Physio!
Women’s health physiotherapists deal with a multitude of different issues affecting women. One of the biggest issues affecting the female population is incontinence. We are so excited to now offer Women’s Health Physiotherapy at Rouse Hill Physio. The following information will go through the key statistics, definitions of incontinence types and how physiotherapists can help to manage it.
Key Statistics:
- 1 in 3 Australian Women are affected by urinary incontinence (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, 2006)
- 70% of people with urinary leakage don’t seek advice and treatment for their problem – as this comes from an old study, we hope that this number has improved (Millard, 1998: The prevalence of urinary incontinence in Australia, Australian and New Zealand Continence Journal)
- Faecal incontinence affects up to 12.9% of Australian Women (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, 2006)
- Faecal Incontinence is one of three major causes for admittance into a nursing home (Pearson J. 2003: Incidence of incontinence as a factor in admission to aged care homes, Australia Government DoHA)
- Approximately 77% of nursing home residence in Australia are affected by incontinence (Steel & Fonda 1995: Minimising the cost of urinary incontinence in nursing homes, Pharmacoeconomics)
What is incontinence?
Incontinence refers to the involuntary loss of urine from the bladder or faeces/wind from the bowel. It is extremely variable as it ranges from a small leak to complete loss of bladder/bowel control. At Rouse Hill Physio, a Women’s Health appointment will look at any type of incontinence.
Urinary Incontinence:
Refers to poor bladder control. This is generally associated with pregnancy, childbirth, menopause or chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes or arthritis. Urinary incontinence can be divided into multiple categories including and can be frequency, urgency, incomplete emptying or a low compliance bladder.
Stress incontinence: small urine leakage during activities increasing abdominal pressure and pushing down on bladder for example coughing, laughing, lifting weights, high impact sports. It often occurs due to pregnancy, childbirth or menopause as these can weaken the pelvic floor muscles.
Urge Incontinence: sudden urge to urinate. This occurs due to the muscle around the bladder (detrusor muscle) to squeeze at inappropriate times and is often linked to a trigger such as putting a key into the door.
Incomplete Emptying: small frequent leakage of small amounts of urine and the bladder is unable to empty properly. It is often associated with difficulty passing urine, a weak or slow stream and feeling as if you need to go back to the toilet after you have just been.
Nocturnal Enuresis: Wetting the bed. Often occurs due to drinking too much liquid prior to bed.
Faecal Incontinence: Faecal incontinence means difficulty controlling bowels. Can pass stools or wind at inappropriate times. Most common causes of this are weak posterior muscles due to getting older, giving birth, having surgery, constipation or severe diarrhea.
Physiotherapy Management:
At Rouse Hill Physio our Women’s Health Physiotherapy appointment will involve a thorough history being taken involving in-depth questions related to the patients pelvic behaviour, an internal pelvic examination and often other assessments to best determine the cause of these symptoms and diagnosis.
Based on the diagnosis, the physio will be able to create a management plan to assist in reducing the symptoms. Management can include anything from education on toileting habits, assessing and adjusting fluid intake, teaching pelvic floor activation and exercises to helping create a bladder routine to retrain your bladder.
Are you the 1 in 3 suffering from any of these symptoms? Call Rouse Hill Physio today to book in your Women’s Health appointment!