Physical therapy

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Hi my doctor has recommended I try physical therapy for my incontinence. So she recommended 2 the she knows. I’m looking forward to trying this has anyone ever had improved or just the same. I’m willing to try anything. Just embarrassing having to explain my problem to another person. That will know in wearing a diaper. It will be hard to hide.

 

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From all that I've seen, taking PT should shorten the timeline for your healing. Your PT will make sure you're doing your exercises/kegels correctly and help build up the muscles around your pelvic floor. Best of luck!

 

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I had 45 min sessions with my PT. She was very knowledgeable and had a lot more time to answer my questions and explain things than the Dr did. Very helpful.

 

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Right, harrisjmh. My PT was way more helpful than my doc in answering questions on what to eat, incontinence products, and even how to help me out mentally get back to a "normal"ish life.

 

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Saw a PT twice and the first time was probed like I’ve never been probed before. Second time had an ultrasound to see the kegals in action. Nice to know I was doing them correctly and how it works. Don’t think it’s sped up my recovery any.

 

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I’ve been wearing depends since February. And I know there are people on this site been wearing them for ions. Am I embarrassed? No but frustrated with my leaking. I went to physical therapist who told me to make sure I do my Kegels reliability and things will get better. I don’t know but I’m hoping daily. Hang in there and take advice from those who are going through same issues.

 

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I’ve been wearing depends since February. And I know there are people on this site been wearing them for ions. Am I embarrassed? No but frustrated with my leaking. I went to physical therapist who told me to make sure I do my Kegels reliability and things will get better. I don’t know but I’m hoping daily. Hang in there and take advice from those who are going through same issues.

This is good advice. Thank you for sharing.

It doesn't matter what you suffer from - for myself, protection has been useful to live a pain free life from bladder spasms.

Kegal recommendation is useful; I myself never do them even when I should - Its not part of my routine. I know I should try doing them more.

Blessings In Christ,
Honeeecombs

 

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pt with a pelvic specialist is great. They will work with you and in my experience they totally understand and expect the diapers. No guilt or explanation needed. They will hook up diodes similar to a chest ekg on your pelvic area so forget hiding the diapers. But seeing the wave form representations of bladder muscle movements then doing differant motions as she guided got me from a 1.5 to about an 8 on the 1-10 scale on her system in the 6 or 7 sessions I had.

It wasn’t curative but it got me to the point where a single overnight diaper could get me thru a 10 hour work day. Continuing with home excersises continued the improvement over a few months.

 

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thanks for all the replies. I try to walk about an hour daily - it helps!

 

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I had a number of pt sessions to help learn how to do Kegel's. The therapist was specially trained and there is no reason to be embarrassed. This is what the therapist does every day.

 

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Very helpful indeed... Taught me the proper way to do exercise and to know my triggers when doing physical chores, riding in vehicles or operating equipment as well as consumption of beverages and food products. Would highly recommend having patience and perseverance due it taking some time to experience the benefit of being consistent with exercising every day and being aware of what triggers we all experience with incontinence.

 

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I haven't been helped by pelvic floor physical therapy. However, I'm trying it for the 4th time at a new place. The physical therapist examined me vaginally. She said I had a problem with relaxation. I told her it was painful 4 me to do kegels. Have Interstitial Cystitis. She told me not to do them then. She gave me exercises to do that involved my hips. Did these & hips became quite painful. Remembered that I had hips x-rayed awhile ago. Bursitis in both hips. So stopped the exercises. So am really at a loss as to what to do. Have an appt. with her soon. Will see what she says. My urogynecologist wants to do Botox injections next. I don't want to do that. I want the INTER STIM device. My doctor seems pretty rigid about this. Don't know if she's going to change her mind. Have a friend who has the INTER STIM. She says she doesn't even have to wear a pad anymore!

 

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@Jayindiapers, and all,

Everyone has different +/- recollections. My experiences with PT for many different recoveries is positive, it will help, and it will take time, 6+ sessions and more.

Best to find out whether you are dealing with weak or over tensioned muscles as the exercises are different, or strictly bladder.

Discussing with a PT your symptoms is no different than talking to your doctor. Probably less so I think. It’s part therapy and part counseling. As for protective gear, it is not new to them. No need to be overly embarrassed. It is embarrassing but not so much as you would think, and by the fourth session, it’s like discussing the weather…maybe.

I rambled a bit but hopefully helpful to you.

 

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If this is the same thing as a pelvic floor physiotherapist in Australia, then yes they are very helpful. As others have mentioned, prepare yourself to be asked a lot of uncomfortable questions at the initial consultation. They are likely to ask you to complete a bladder diary.I knew this going in to my first appointment and had already recorded my fluid intake (type and volume), urgency times, leakage time, volume (weigh pads) and activity I was doing when it happened and any other factors I thought might be relevant. It may be worth doing this yourself prior to your appointment.

 

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Once I was out of the hospital and rehab facility after being struck by a car, I spent a LOT of time in outpatient PT. The exceecizes were for my whole body and my diaper was always popping out from under my shirt. It wasn’t to be helped. Not one of the therapists ever mentioned it.

Occasionally one would pull my shirt down, or even make a subtle reference to “taking a break” if there was some obvious fullness. I really appreciated the fact that I could ignore the fact that I was wearing and just focus on the exercise.