New Study Reports That Physical Therapy Treatment Resolves Symptoms of Urinary Incontinenc...( Silent Health Issue Affects Women...),Health

Silent Health Issue Affects Women of All Ages

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (March 18, 2008) reports that pelvic floor muscle training, in conjunction with bladder training, resolved the symptoms of urinary incontinence in women. According to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), proper preventive measures and treatment by a physical therapist can help patients manage, if not alleviate, this often debilitating condition.

The study, which included 96 randomized controlled trials and 3 systematic reviews from 1990 through 2007, concluded that pelvic floor muscles training and bladder training resolved urinary incontinence in women, as compared to drug therapy, electrostimulation, medical devices, injectable bulking agents, and local estrogen therapy.

"This study is significant for many reasons, none more so than because it provides the highest levels of evidence to support the importance of intervention by a physical therapist who specializes in treating urinary incontinence," says Cynthia E Neville, PT, BCIA-PMDB, director of Women's Health Rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

Urinary incontinence, or involuntary loss of bladder control, isn't something that just happens to older patients. In fact, the condition affects men and women alike, young and old. More than 25 million* Americans have urinary incontinence, and the experience can leave them feeling ashamed, socially isolated, and depressed.

Patricia J Jenkyns, a physical therapist at the Department of Rehabilitation Services at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, says that physical therapists are crucial in treating urinary incontinence because of their role in both assessing and treating musculoskeletal conditions. "Patients often think that because of age or medical history, incontinence is something they have to learn to live with, but in reali
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