G.P was 40 year old female with urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse after the birth of her 2nd child, 6 months ago. She was having multiple incidents of urine leakage during the day (especially when she coughed, sneezed or attempted to run), was going to the bathroom frequently and would feel a lot of pelvic floor pressure by the end of the day. She was a marathon runner and was desperate to get back on the trail.
At her physical therapy evaluation, she provided details of her births, her level of activity and exercise before and during both pregnancies.
In her examination, there was a combination of tightness and weakness noted around specific areas of her pelvic floor muscles. She had a lot of difficulty with breathing efficiently and coordinating her muscles to reduce the pressure into her bladder and pelvic floor.
She had PT 1x/wk for 7 visits with a focus on improving the strength and coordination of her core and pelvic floor muscles to reduce the pressure down into her pelvis. Working closely on her plan of care with her OBGYN, she was issued a pessary to help reduce her symptoms of prolapse, while we continued her PT.
We also worked on improving her diet and bladder habits to reduced bladder irritation and allow her bladder function more efficiently.
The outcome was a significant reduction in her bladder and prolapse symptoms and she felt confident about the core/ pelvic floor muscle strengthening routine we established. She was able to slowly re-introduce running back to her regimen, running 3 to 5 miles with little to no urine leakage.
