In light of World Continence Week this month (June 15-22), we thought we would put together a blog summarising the main points and how physiotherapy can help you!
The aim of World Continence Week is to improve awareness of incontinence based issues and promote health, wellness and quality of life. Continence has always seemed to be a ‘taboo’ kind of topic - resulting in it being under-diagnosed. This then leads to the condition being under-treated and under-addressed by medical professionals, despite the huge impact it has on an individual’s health, quality of life and self-esteem. World Continence Week aims to reduce how much of a ‘taboo’ subject incontinence is and as a result, aims to increase the number of individuals seeking medical help… because, in many cases, it can be helped!
So, what is incontinence exactly?
- Incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine, stool or wind.
There are different kinds of incontinence:
- Stress urinary incontinence: Loss of urine during moments of high intra-abdominal pressure such as; coughing, sneezing, lifting, laughing, running and jumping.
- Urge incontinence: Loss of urine due to a sudden urge to go to the toilet and being unable to hold it.
- Faecal incontinence: Loss of faeces, mainly due to being unable to hold or reduced sensation.
The Continence Foundation of Australia came up with ‘5 Healthy Habits’ this year as part of their campaign - and we think they are great. If you would like to reduce your risk of incontinence or help some current incontinence, give these tips a go!
- Exercise is important for overall health, as well as bladder and bowel function. You should be aiming for 150 mins of moderate intensity exercise or 75 mins of vigorous exercise per week, as well as two strength training sessions. This is what is recommended by the World Health Organisation.
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Ensuring adequate fibre in your diet helps to improve bowel function and avoid constipation. Constipation can lead to a weakened pelvic floor which can then affect your bladder and bowel control.
- Fibre can be found in foods like whole grain breads, fruit, vegetables, cereal, nuts and seeds.
- When you increase your fibre, an increase in fluids is also important. Staying hydrated helps maintain good digestive health.
- Water is the best choice! Drinks like coffee, alcohol and soft drinks can irritate the bladder.
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A strong pelvic floor helps prevent incontinence.The pelvic floor can be trained anywhere, without anyone even knowing! No matter what gender, age or level you are at, you can work these muscles.
- Only go when you have to go! Refrain from getting into the habit of going to the toilet ‘just in case’ - if you continue this, the bladder doesn’t fill up properly and this can cause it to shrink a little.
- This may then cause a feeling of needing to go to the toilet more often, otherwise known as urge incontinence.
Physiotherapy can help with incontinence in many cases!
A lot of incontinence cases can be a result of poor toilet habits, constipation and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. These are areas which can be addressed by a physiotherapist trained in pelvic health.
What might a physiotherapy session for incontinence involve?
- Detailed discussion to identify possible contributing factors: toilet habits, diet, fluid consumption, obstetric history, medical history
- Assessment of pelvic floor muscles (internal) - if appropriate
- Treatment which could involve: tips and tricks to implement in your daily life, ways to help your bowel movement, exercises for your pelvic floor muscles to help build strength/endurance/reactivity to help with bowel/bladder control.
This is all dependent on the presenting individual and the right course of action can be decided by the physiotherapist and individual on the day.
Do you have incontinence and would like to know more and how physiotherapy may be able to help? Our physiotherapist Jess is trained in pelvic health and is able to help people with these issues.
Give us a call on 6281 2499 to book in for a Free Initial Assessment and a consultation or book in with Jess online.
Author: Jess Garlick, Physiotherapist (BHSc, M. Physiotherapy Practice)