A client tells her story about regaining bladder control in her forties after years of weakness that had plagued her since she was fourteen!
Client : When I saw the description for the pelvic floor clinic, I knew that I had to give it a try. Since I was about 14 years of age, I have had problems controlling my bladder. At first it was just when my bladder was really full and I would laugh or sneeze or cough that I would find myself leaking. As I got into my 20s, the leaking seemed to be happening all the time, and I started having to wear a thin maxi pad on a daily basis. Now in my 40s, I had to wear a thick pad all the time or else I would be too nervous and uncomfortable to go about my day. I was also dealing with extremely painful and irregular menstrual cycles, lower back pain and tingling down into my left leg.
Pelvic Floor Practitioner: Because the body is one single, whole system, if some part of the body does not function well, it usually indicates that there is dysfunction elsewhere. Therefore, when dealing with these types of symptoms, we first need to look at why the muscles in the pelvic floor have become so weakened or stressed that they are no longer able to control the flow of urine and are allowing leakage. Common causes for the types of symptoms described by this client include changes in the symmetry of the ankles, knees, hips or pelvis; tensions or changes in position in the uterus, ovaries or intestines; stresses or tension from the lungs or diaphragm; and/or restrictions in the spine or craniosacralsystem. I didn’t know which might be involved here, so I needed to do some more exploration. When I looked at her ankles, the left one was very tight and restricted. Also, her pelvis was tilted forward on the left side. If you think of your pelvis as the bowl that houses all of your abdominal organs (your intestines, ovaries, uterus, bladder, etc.), you can see that when the bowl is tilted, everything in the bowl will tilt too, causing stress and tension within that pelvic bowl. I began by removing the restrictions in the ankle, hip and pelvis, and then went on to release some of the tensions in the pelvic bowl.
Client: Dianne started by moving my ankle around, which made it feel looser. Then she used my muscles to help “put my pelvis back into position,” which made my back feel a bit better. Then she placed her hands on my stomach and abdomen, which was a little bit tender, but as she moved her hands around gently, the tenderness went away, and I could feel things moving around in my abdomen. She also helped me breathe more deeply, which seemed to take some tension off of my belly. To complete the hands-on treatment, she placed her hands on my tailbone, which really made me feel like I needed to go pee, but I was able to hold it, and after a few minutes that feeling went away.
Pelvic Floor Practitioner: The body is connected from head to toe, and if one part is not in the proper position, or is not moving properly, then the body is going to compensate by making something else move too much. The body is great at doing this for a few days, sometimes even for a few years, but eventually it will start to break down and cause pain or dysfunction. In this case, the lack of movement from the ankle had caused the movement mechanics of the hips and pelvis to change. This tilted her pelvic bowl forward on one side, making the uterus tilt forward on that side also. This in turn dragged the ovary on that side forward and the diaphragm down. The tailbone was also tilted to one side, causing a change in her lower spine that was the source of some of the lower back pain and tingling down her leg.
Client: After the very first treatment, I noticed that the pain in my lower back and the tingling down my leg had gone away, and the constant leaking that I had been dealing with had diminished so much that I was back to only having to wear a thin pad. Dianne also gave me homework, which was practicing to set my pelvic core on a daily basis. While at first these exercises were very hard to do, after only a week I felt much stronger.
Pelvic Floor Practitioner: By adjusting the pelvic position and spinal mobility, we were able to reduce the amount of stress placed on the lower back, which is why the pain decreased. The focus then became releasing all of the tension in the abdominal organs, allowing them to shift back into a neutral position. Then I taught her the three steps involved in setting her pelvic core. In other words, I taught her how to reactivate all the little stabilizing muscles in the deeper layers of pelvic muscle that help control incontinence and urgency and strengthen the pelvis and lower back regions.
Client: My next treatment consisted of adding a new dimension to my pelvic core exercises by adding a piece of exercise equipment , the pelvic core ball. It allowed me to move around more while working the pelvic core muscles in different positions.
Pelvic Floor Practitioner: Once the restrictions in her body had been resolved , it was the ideal time to challenge the pelvic core muscles in ways that were realistic to everyday movement and activity. With the pelvic core ball, which actually attaches to the legs, she was then able to contract the core muscles more dynamically, through movements like squats and lunges, increasingly challenging her ability to hold onto a pelvic core contraction.
Client: The way that Dianne explained it to me was that she wanted to make sure that my pelvic core muscles were getting stronger in the positions that made me most vulnerable to leakage – bending down to pick something up off the floor, or reaching and twisting to get something high off a shelf. Being in those positions was when I would have the most trouble holding onto my bladder, so my focus was to strengthen and challenge my core muscles in those positions. At first it was pretty difficult but once I learned how to hold the contraction it became easier to do. Now it seems like it’s something I do without having to think about it, it’s just part of my everyday routine.
Pelvic Floor Practitioner: We want to teach pelvic core muscles to work on a continual basis, and on a subconscious level, so that the muscles are always working to hold the pelvis neutral, the spine stable, and the pelvic floor strong. With a little work on the part of the patient, it can become a habit to have those muscles working – a great thing for the health and function of the entire body.
Client: Thanks to four treatments with the Pelvic Floor Clinic over the last six weeks, I now am living without low back pain, and I no longer have to wear pads on a daily basis.
The English Osteopaths believe that if you give yourself the right environment in which to thrive, you will. Make an appointment to see us, and we’ll help you find that environment.
