How Physiotherapy Can Help Seniors Manage Incontinence

Dealing with incontinence as we age can be frustrating. But here’s the thing: it’s more common than you might think, especially among seniors. Pelvic floor physiotherapy in Edmontonoffers a gentle and effective way to strengthen those often-overlooked muscles. Our approach gives you better control and, most importantly, boosts your confidence. We’re committed to helping you regain control, improve your quality of life, and reduce the anxiety that often accompanies incontinence.

Understanding Incontinence in Seniors

Incontinence is, unfortunately, a common issue for many seniors. Whether it’s an occasional leak when you laugh or a more persistent problem, it’s something a lot of older adults face. The causes can vary from weakened pelvic floor muscles, which support your bladder and bowel, to neurological conditions or even certain medications.

As we age, these muscles can lose strength, just like any other muscle in the body. When that happens, controlling the bladder becomes harder, leading to those inconvenient leaks or the sudden, urgent need to find a bathroom.

How We Can Help with Incontinence Through Physiotherapy:

Biofeedback and Electrical Stimulation

Our pelvic floor physiotherapy in Edmonton provides biofeedback, which is like having a personal coach for your pelvic floor muscles. By using sensors, we offer real-time feedback on how your muscles are doing, helping both you and our physiotherapists understand what’s going on. With this insight, we teach you how to properly engage those muscles during exercises.

Biofeedback:

• Surface Electromyography (sEMG): We place sensors on your skin to monitor the activity of your pelvic floor muscles. This technique is great for improving muscle control, especially for seniors dealing with incontinence.

Electrical Stimulation Techniques:

• Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS): We provide TENS by placing electrodes onto the skin to stimulate your pelvic muscles and help reduce pain, making it easier to manage incontinence by boosting muscle response.

Modalities:

• Shockwave Therapy: We use sound waves to encourage tissue healing, which strengthens your pelvic muscles and reduces incontinence.
• Ultrasound Therapy: We offer ultrasound therapy to deliver deep heat to your pelvic tissues, promoting healing and reducing muscle weakness tied to incontinence.
• Dry Needling: Our physiotherapists use dry needling to target trigger points in the pelvic muscles, relieving tension, improving muscle function, and helping you better manage incontinence.

Strengthening Pelvic Floor Muscles

We provide pelvic floor physiotherapy exercises, including Kegels, which specifically target the muscles supporting your bladder. By regularly doing these exercises with our guidance, you can boost the strength and coordination of pelvic health of older people, making it easier to control your bladder.

• Kegel Exercises: We guide you through repeatedly contracting and relaxing your pelvic floor muscles. Kegels are key to strengthening these muscles and managing incontinence.
• Pelvic Tilts: We offer pelvic tilts, gentle movements that engage your lower abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. They help improve muscle coordination, which can reduce incontinence symptoms.

Improving Bladder Control

A stronger pelvic floor means better bladder control, which translates to fewer leaks. Our physiotherapists help you through bladder retraining, where we gradually increase the time between bathroom visits, giving you even more control.

• Bladder Retraining: We assist you in slowly stretching out the time between trips to the bathroom, helping to improve bladder control and cut down on incontinence.
• Quick Flicks: We teach you quick flicks, an exercise that involves rapidly contracting and relaxing your pelvic floor muscles. This helps strengthen your muscle response and control, reducing those pesky incontinence episodes.

How to Do Quick Flicks

1. Get Comfortable: Sit, stand, or lie down—whatever works best for you.
2. Contract and Release: Quickly tighten your pelvic floor muscles and then immediately relax.
3. Repeat: Do 10-20 reps in a set, aiming for three sets a day.
4. Breathe Normally: Don’t forget to breathe as you go.

Reducing Urgency

Urge incontinence—where you feel a sudden, overwhelming need to go—can be pretty stressful. We help manage that urgency by calming the involved muscles and nerves through a mix of exercises and relaxation techniques.

• Pelvic Floor Muscle Relaxation: We focus on helping you relax your pelvic floor muscles during moments of urgency, which aids in controlling urge incontinence and reducing that overwhelming need to pee.

Pelvic Floor Drops

How to Do It:

1. Sit or lie down in a position that feels good for you.
2. Breathe in deeply through your nose.
3. As you breathe out, imagine your pelvic floor muscles gently dropping or lengthening downward.
4. With each exhale, concentrate on the feeling of your pelvic floor releasing tension.
5. Continue this process with each breath, allowing your pelvic floor to relax more with each exhale.

Benefits:

Pelvic floor drops are all about letting go. They help you release unnecessary tension, making it easier to manage urgency and improve your overall pelvic floor relaxation. This can be especially beneficial if you’re managing urge incontinence or general pelvic discomfort.

Manual Therapy Techniques

Beyond pelvic exercises, we also provide manual therapy to manage incontinence effectively. Our techniques include gentle internal or external manipulation to release tight muscles, improve tissue mobility, and enhance blood flow to the area. If your incontinence is linked to muscle tension or scar tissue, our manual therapy can restore normal function and ease discomfort.

• Myofascial Release: We apply gentle pressure and stretching to release tightness in your pelvic floor muscles, reducing incontinence caused by muscle tension.
• Trigger Point Therapy: We target specific tight spots or knots within the pelvic floor muscles with trigger point therapy. By releasing these trigger points, we alleviate discomfort and improve your control over incontinence.
• Scar Tissue Mobilization: We work on breaking down adhesions and improving tissue flexibility around the pelvic floor, helping to restore normal function and reduce incontinence related to past surgeries or injuries.

Managing Incontinence

Beyond the physical benefits, we recognize that gaining control over incontinence can give your confidence a major boost. Not having to worry about leaks or racing to the bathroom means you can fully enjoy social activities, travel, and everyday life without the constant anxiety of an accident.

• Standing Heel Raises with Pelvic Floor Contraction: We guide you in doing standing heel raises while contracting your pelvic floor muscles. This exercise promotes balance and muscle coordination, helping you feel more stable and confident in managing incontinence during daily activities.

Reclaim Your Freedom with 50 Plus Physio

Our pelvic floor physiotherapy in Edmonton is more than just a treatment—it’s a game-changer when it comes to managing incontinence. From strengthening your pelvic floor muscles to improving bladder control and reducing urgency, our 50 Plus Physio makes a big difference. Plus, the confidence you gain from regaining control over your body is priceless. So, if incontinence is something you’re dealing with, our pelvic floor rehab could be the key to reclaiming your freedom and peace of mind.

Ready to take control of your incontinence and boost your confidence? Reach out today with our registered physiotherapists at geriatric physiotherapy in Edmonton and start your pelvic floor rehab journey. Don’t wait—your quality of life is worth it!