Treating a Pelvic Floor Disorder

Help is available Are you living with a pelvic floor disorder? Talk to your doctor about your symptoms. Or call The Christ Hospital Center for Pelvic Floor Disorders at 513-585-4800 to speak to a specialist. Aren’t sure if your symptoms are the result of a pelvic floor issue? Take Our Questionnaire

• Behavioral changes:
  Click for more ...
  This could include:

  • Losing weight: Being overweight puts extra pressure on your bladder. Weight loss will relieve some of that pressure and can help you regain bladder control.
  • Avoiding certain types of physical activity such as heaving lifting. Heavy lifting can put extra pressure on your bladder and cause stress to your pelvic floor muscles.
  • Voiding on schedule. Sometimes the message that the bladder is full comes without warning and often too late. In these cases, women find that they lose urine on the way to the bathroom. There isn’t enough time between the message and their ability to get to the bathroom before they start to leak. Voiding on a schedule may help prevent these leaking episodes.

• Nutritional counseling:
  Click for more ...
  Depending on the type of disorder you have, you may benefit from dietary changes. For example, patients with chronic constipation may benefit from a high-fiber diet or medications to help soften stool. Or patients with bladder pain may be sensitive to certain types of drinks or foods; a modification in your diet may help alleviate symptoms. Some chemicals in our beverages can behave as diuretics and bladder irritants. If you are sensitive to these chemicals, they may cause you to make large amounts of urine or may aggravate bladder spasms resulting in a more frequent need to urinate. Some common bladder irritants include:

  • Caffeine – Try to stop or at least reduce your caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea and cola to see if your bladder control improves.
  • Artificial Sweeteners – Beverages that contain artificial sweeteners like aspartame or saccharin can also be a bladder irritant. Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew or Coke then would be especially problematic because of the artificial sweetener and the caffeine.
  • Citrus juices – Some people find that juices like orange or grapefruit juice can also irritate their bladder. Although there are no scientific studies to prove this, the best thing to do is to stop the suspected irritant for a week or two and see if it makes a difference.

• Biofeedback therapy:
  Click for more ...
  Pelvic floor biofeedback therapy is a treatment intended to help patients learn to strengthen and relax their pelvic muscles in order to improve bladder function and decrease pelvic pain. A sensor is placed in the vagina to sense the contraction of the pelvic muscles. The system can also deliver a painless electrical stimulation to the pelvic muscles, which causes them to contract, and this stimulation both exercises the muscles and teaches the patient the sensation of pelvic muscle contraction. Biofeedback therapy is done in the office on a weekly basis with a clinician who specializes in this type of therapy. Each session lasts approximately one hour, and most patients have six to eight sessions during their initial treatment.

• Physical therapy:
  Click for more ...
  Physical therapy, or pelvic floor exercises, can strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and improve bladder and bowel control. These are the muscles you would use to hold back gas or to stop the flow of urine midstream. Our physical therapist can help make sure that you are contracting the right muscles. Once you have correctly identified the muscles, you contract and hold the squeeze for a few seconds and then completely relax the muscles before the next squeeze. You will then be given a physical therapy regimen to work on at home.

• Medication:
  Click for more ...
  Certain medications are available to treat a variety of pelvic floor disorders, including overactive bladder, urogenital atrophy and certain pain syndromes.

• Pessaries:
  Click for more ...
  A pessary is a small plastic or silicone medical device inserted into the vagina or rectum to help support the uterus, vagina, bladder or rectum, when any of these organs fall, or are displaced from their original location. Pessaries are especially useful for women who are waiting for surgery or who cannot have surgery. The pessary can be placed temporarily or permanently, and must be fitted by your physician, advanced practice nurse or physician’s assistant. Most pessaries can be worn during intercourse, but should be cleaned regularly. You will be taught how to insert and remove the pessary for cleaning, or if you prefer, you may come to the office periodically to have the pessary cleaned.