Urinary incontinence:
urinary incontinence is involuntary leaking of urine. There are several types of incontinence but the most common is Stress incontinence in women. Its most commonly seen in women over 55 years of age Stress incontinence happens when you exert pressure on the bladder during activities like exercises, lifting heavy objects and also due to coughing, laughing and sneezing
This can happen during pregnancy, after child birth especially vaginal delivery, pelvic surgery and menopause. Along with impact on your personal, social and work life it can also lead to urinary and skin infections You can prevent this by maintaining healthy weight and keeping the pelvic floor muscles strong.
Physiotherapists are trained to manage incontinence. Talk to your physiotherapist to understand the pelvic floor anatomy, bringing awareness and activation of those muscles and train them to get toned and strong to prevent leakage. They also help you develop strategies to manage your condition long term.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is silent weakening of bones leading them to become brittle and susceptible to fractures.
It generally doesn’t have much symptoms but you might notice that you are losing an inch of your height, experiencing changes in posture that make you bent or stooped and lower back pain.
Its commonly seen as people age but is most prominent in peri and menopausal women due to lack of female hormones to support bone health.
Some of the major risk factors are age (over 50 years), menopause, genetics (family history) and smoking. Other risk factors are certain health conditions and due to certain medications
Certain lifestyles can potentially cause osteoporosis such as snot getting enough vitamin D, calcium, inadequate physical exercise and alcohol and tobacco use.
Bone density test can help diagnose osteoporosis.
The main treatment is Vitamin D and mineral supplementation and physical exercise.
Physiotherapist can help you with a extremely safe, supervised and tailored exercise programme to increase the bone density. They can also help you with associated conditions like back pain and recovery from fractures if any. A major part of osteoporosis management are weight bearing and resistance exercises, balance training and prevention of falls as they can significantly reduce the risk of fractures.
Post natal back pain
About 90% women suffer from back pain during pregnancy and almost 75% suffer post-delivery.
The major reasons for back pain during pregnancy are due to changes in centre of gravity, hormonal changes and increasing body weight. Post natal back pain can be due to long labour, C-Section, weakened abdominal and pelvic floor muscles, carrying the baby and posture associated with it, improper or inadequate exercise regime.
You can mange the back pain by strengthening your core and pelvic floor muscles, postural education, gentle stretching and aerobic exercises
Consult your physiotherapist as they can help you manage and treat your back pain with non-drug physiotherapy modalities and devise an exercise programme according your needs. They can help you educate and mange safe postural habits like bending and caring for the baby.
To make an appointment to consult our Physiotherapists, please call 97517320.