Pelvic floor therapy
Pelvic floor therapy
When a child has difficulty with any aspect of going to the bathroom, it affects all aspects of everyday life – from going to school, playing sports or playing with friends.
Sometimes problems with peeing or pooping are because of problems with the pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor muscles are a group of muscles that surround the bowel and bladder and help control our pee and poop. When these muscles aren’t working the right way, it can make it hard to keep pee or poop from coming out or hard to go to the bathroom.
What are the benefits of pediatric pelvic floor therapy?
Pelvic floor therapy focuses on improving how the muscles of the pelvic floor work together with the colon and the bladder to make going to the bathroom less challenging.
Our team uses a variety of treatment techniques, including parent coaching, behavioral and lifestyle changes and biofeedback to make it easier for kids to go to the bathroom –making your day less stressful and helping kids be kids.
What conditions can benefit from pelvic floor therapy?
Pelvic floor therapy can help address several urinary, bowel and gynecological issues, including but not limited to:
- Urinary incontinence (stress, urge, mixed, giggle)
- Daytime wetting (daytime enuresis)
- Bedwetting (nighttime enuresis)
- Urinary retention
- Urinary hesitancy
- Dysfunctional voiding
- Detrusor sphincter dyssynergia
- Constipation
- Fecal incontinence
- Fecal leakage
- Encopresis
- Hirschsprung’s disease
- Anorectal malformations
- Vesicoureteral reflux
- Recurrent urinary tract infections
- Toileting phobia
- Toileting refusal
- Delays in continence due to diagnosis of a disability (autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome etc.)
Pelvic floor therapy treatment options: Parent and child coaching
Treatment focuses on parent coaching (as well as child coaching depending on the child’s age and cognitive abilities) to implement behavioral and lifestyle changes. This could include following a voiding schedule, daily toileting sits and sitting on the toilet in the optimal toileting position.
We’ll also assess strength and flexibility of the core, lower extremity, and pelvic floor to assess if there is a biomechanical component to your child’s bowel or bladder dysfunction.
- Teach families soft tissue strategies to manage constipation.
- Improve breathing patterns to promote healthy pelvic floor muscle coordination.
- Address sensory processing difficulties that may be impacting toileting.
- Utilize biofeedback to improve body awareness and coordination of the pelvic floor. Biofeedback leads are placed on the external anal sphincter and/or the abdominal muscles to assess muscle coordination. Biofeedback is not appropriate for all patients. To utilize biofeedback as an effective intervention, a child must be able to tolerate this intervention and be able to follow directions.
- Acquire appropriate toileting durable medical equipment (if current home toilet does not meet a child’s positioning needs to allow for the pelvic floor muscles to relax to allow them to go to the bathroom).
How long does treatment last?
The initial evaluation will include a thorough discussion about your child’s medical history and your concerns about bowel and bladder habits. The therapist might assess your child's muscles by having them stand on one foot or do jumping jacks. There are no invasive tests during the evaluation. We’ll discuss treatment options that are designed to meet your child’s specific needs.
Children typically receive services every other week for a total of six to 12 sessions. Treatment length and intensity vary for each child.