Central Maine Healthcare knows that one of the best ways to solve incontinence and prolapse is through pelvic floor rehabilitation. That’s why we offer rehab services so that our patients can get the help they need and get back to feeling well and strong again. Our treatment team includes board-certified physical therapists who will work with you to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. You’ll be back to independence in no time!
Pelvic Floor Rehab 101
Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation is a treatment option for patients with urinary incontinence. This includes stress, urge, or mixed incontinence, as well as prolapse. It can also help patients that are dealing with constipation or pelvic pain.
The muscle groups in the pelvis can become too stretched or weak from lack of use or experiences such as childbirth. This makes it hard to keep the pelvic organs in place and causes them to become out of balance. Through pelvic floor strengthening, you’ll learn to retrain these muscles, so they can do their job again. Your organs will function better as a result, including your bladder.
What Pelvic Floor Rehab Looks Like
The program includes an assessment by a physical therapist to assess your unique needs. You’ll then be taught specific therapeutic exercises, which will include learning how to strengthen pelvic floor muscles. These lessons will teach you correct muscle isolation and contraction. The program includes biofeedback and surface EMG to measure results, so you can fine tune your training.
Once you’ve got the exercises down, you can practice them at home for even better results. You’ll return to the rehab clinic every week for about six weeks to practice with your physical therapist and measure your results. We offer a flexible schedule of appointments to meet your needs.
Other Things to Know
In addition to the pelvic floor exercises, your doctor and physical therapist will have you do a few more things to help speed up your healing.
These extra steps include:
- Keeping a bladder diary. This will help your doctor understand what your bladder and pelvic floor are doing throughout the day, so they can adjust your treatment as needed.
- Following recommendations for your fluid intake. This will also help you reduce incontinence issues and potential embarrassment.
- Following recommendations for your diet. You’ll be advised on potential bladder irritants, so you can work to avoid them to improve your continence.
