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Cognitive therapy improves overactive bladder
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Meditation/guided imagery
For many women, the uncertainty and embarrassment associated with losing control over their bladder causes them to restrict their activities and for some, makes it very difficult or impossible to leave the house.
Now women who use guided imagery and deep breathing may be able to effectively manage their overactive bladder. Physicians at Loyola University Health System conducted a clinical trial in which they used cognitive therapy techniques that train the brain to control the bladder.
Cognitive therapy for bladder control
The 10 patients (mean age, 62 years) in the study attended an introductory session on cognitive therapy, after which they were given instructions to listen to an audio recording of relaxation and visualization exercises at home two times a day for two weeks. The women kept notes of the number of incontinence episodes they had experienced before starting the study, during the study, and after the two weeks of therapy.
An evaluation of the data showed that the number of urge incontinence episodes per week declined significantly from an average of 38 to 12. One participant noted that before the study, she needed seven to eight pads a day and was afraid to go out of her house. Now she is nearly leak-free.
Other treatments for bladder incontinence
A number of other treatment approaches are available for bladder incontinence ranging from prescription medications to pelvic floor exercises (Kegel exercises). Herbal and nutritional remedies, including pumpkin seed and soy extracts, have also been studied.
Urinary incontinence today
Nearly 25 percent of women have a pelvic floor disorder, which includes bladder incontinence. A subspecialty of health-care professionals called urogynecologists, who have expertise in both urology and gynecology, has emerged and is helping women manage incontinence and other pelvic floor disorders.
There are a limited number of urogynecologists in the United States. In the Phoenix/Tucson area, there is the Southern Arizona Urogynecology Center in Tucson.
Health-care professionals seeking information about urogynecology and other pelvic floor disorders may be interested in attending the 18th Annual Urogynecology and Disorders of the Female Pelvic Floor, which is being held in Scottsdale, Arizona, September 9-12, 2009.
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