Women who suffer with pelvic floor problems know all too well its embarassing and limiting impact on their quality of life. These problems are not, however, a “normal” part of growing older; they are treatable medical conditions.
Female pelvic floor disorders and symptoms treated include:
- Incontinence: loss of bladder or bowel control, leakage of urine or feces
- Prolapse: descent of pelvic organs: a bulge or pressure in the vagina, dropped uterus, bladder, vagina or rectum
- Emptying disorders: difficulty urinating or moving bowels
- Pelvic or bladder pain: painful urination, painful bladder or urethra, painful intercourse
- Overactive bladder: frequent need to void.
Treatments range from exercises, dietary changes, medications and pessary use to physical therapy and surgery. To treat urinary stress incontinece (loss of urine with cough, sneeze, laughing or exercise) and pelvic organ prolapse, minimally invasive, outpatient surgeries are now available at St. Joseph Hospital.
Additionally, St. Joseph Hospital Rehabilitation Services offers a Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation Program to help men and women regain pelvic floor function. Pelvic floor muscles can be strengthened using techniques such as exercises, manual techniques, electrical stimulation and biofeedback.
Don’t let embarassment keep you from discussing the problem and possible solutions with your doctor.
New, minimally invasive outpatient surgeries are now available at St. Joseph Hospital to treat prolapse and urinary stress incontinence . For a referral to a physician who performs minimally invasive pelvic floor repair, please contact Heidi Daniel, R.N., at (714) 771-8000 ext. 18405. To find a physician who specializes in pelvic floor repair to correct fecal incontinence, please click
here.