Urinary Incontinence - its not always a case of a weak pelvic floor!

Urinary Continence – a condition which effects 1 in 4 people aged 15yrs and above! It is defined as the involuntary leakage of urine. Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) leakage which occurs during physical exertion is the most common type.

But how common is it?
🌸8.5% – 38% of women experience SUI
🌸 28% of female athletes aged between 18-21 years
🌸 41% elite female athletes
🌸 17% of children below 15yrs.
🌸 85% women can suffer UI during subsequent pregnancies

As you can see from the stats above, it’s not just an old age, weak pelvic floor or postnatal thing!

Most commonly a ‘weak pelvic floor’ is blamed for incontinence issues, and whilst it can be a factor, incontinence is multifactorial and highly associated with poor control of intra-abdominal pressure transferred to the bladder.

Sometimes SUI occurs with excessive abdominal muscle bracing, sometimes it occurs due to sub-optimal breathing during running or weight-lifting, and sometimes it happens when the pelvis and lower back no longer have adequate joint movement and control which can stem from a different problem as far away as your cranium (head) or feet!

Our Women’s Health Physiotherapist’s Nicole & Amy are trained Diane Lee’s Integrated System’s Model, where they use a whole body assessment and treatment approach to help treat the root cause of urinary incontinence, not just the pelvic floor!

Quite often they can show their patients how their foot mechanics, or core co-ordination or posture can help stop their incontinence symptoms.

They embrace all of your anatomy and empower you with knowledge and awareness necessary to make the changes in your own body.

If you are experiencing some wee problems, and want to get back to doing the things you love, come and see our Women’s Health Physio’s, they can discuss with you the reasons behind your leakage and appropriate treatment options available.