Pelvic Floor Exercises Reduce Incontinence Episodes

According to a clinical trial in Canada, muscle training for the pelvic floor can reduce incontinence problems significantly.

Many women who have osteoporosis also struggle with leakage due to the fractures in their lumbar spine. These fractures cause slumping, which puts added pressure on the pelvic floor.

The study was published in the online version of Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society.

Forty-six women who had passed menopause and who had low bone density, as well as occasional incontinence, were able to reduce incontinence episodes by 75 percent by completing physical therapy sessions once weekly for 12 weeks.

The comparison group, who did not complete any physical therapy, did not improve.

After a year, the group who had undergone physical therapy had maintained the improvements, while the comparison group had actually worsened in incontinence.

The findings stress the importance of exercise in treating osteoporosis and that, even though exercise can cause an incontinence episode in women with osteoporosis, the physical therapy regimen can improve this situation.

The regimen used in the trial included a one-our session that comprised pelvic floor muscle training. After the first week, sessions lasted 30 minutes.

Pelvic floor muscle training is widely prescribed for women who struggle with incontinence; this was the first study to examine its effects on older women who have both incontinence and osteoporosis.

The bottom line is that pelvic floor exercises are important to preventing the fractures that eventually lead to incontinence. Thus these exercises are important regardless of whether you struggle with incontinence.