There’s something that every person with mild to moderate overactive bladder has in common: pelvic floor issues. Women who have experienced childbirth, or have menopause on the horizon/in the rear-view, all have pelvic floor muscles that no longer function as well as they used to.
At ChristiMD Medical Group, we offer several kinds of non-surgical treatment for overactive bladder in Houston, TX. You can always contact us to talk about the possibilities, and read on for our 3 best choices to slow down or stop those mad dashes to the toilet.
Non-Surgical Treatment for Overactive Bladder in Houston, TX
These are the first treatments Dr. Christi may recommend for your urinary incontinence issues, depending on their severity.
Generally, non-surgical treatments work best for light to moderate issues, and for maintenance of positive results from other treatments. Surgical treatments for urinary incontinence issues lean more toward more severe cases.
Pelvic Floor Training
ChristiMD Medical Group is one of the only practices to offer pelvic floor training as a treatment for overactive bladder in Houston. Pelvic floor training tones the pelvic floor muscles and retrains the bladder nerves. This first-line treatment choice allows you a simple way to fix your urinary incontinence.
Once a week for 8 weeks, your in-office treatment consists of a 20-minute session. Each session will involve placing a small probe in your vagina, and one in your rectum. The vaginal probe provides stimulation to the pelvic floor muscles, while the rectal probe measures contraction strength.
To coincide with the in-office treatment outlined above, and to support your positive results afterwards, Dr. Christi will create a custom Kegel custom exercise program just for you.
Why Kegels?
Your pelvic floor needs help after childbirth, and because of the natural effects of aging. Kegel exercises are a simple and effective way to improve your pelvic strength.
Because the muscles in your pelvic floor create a supportive “sling” at the bottom of your pelvis, they uphold your organs. This keeps your bladder, urethra, uterus, and bowels where they need to be. When the pelvic floor fails, they literally move, and interfere with each other’s operation.
The clench-and-release Kegel exercises help those muscles lift and support again, allowing functionality to return. It’s kind of amazing that something so simple could be so powerful for our day-to-day life. Plus, kegels return tightness to the vagina, and increase sensation for better sexual pleasure. That’s the kind of side effect we all want!
Benefits of Pelvic Floor Therapy in Houston, TX
- Decreased urine leakage (stress incontinence)
- Greater control of urinary urgency
- Improves your situation for other treatments
- Increases sexual function
Emsella®
A patient favorite among patients and their partners (for reasons we’ll share in a moment), the
Emsella treatment jumpstarts the restorative process—and relieves incontinence—by contracting pelvic muscles and returning neuromuscular control to your bladder.
For your Emsella treatment, you sit in a specially designed chair that’s really a technological marvel. For 30 minutes, the Emsellla chair directs high-intensity focused electromagnetic energy through the seat into your pelvic floor.
This energy causes the pelvic floor muscles to contract, similar to Kegels. Here’s the truly amazing part: your body performs 10,000 or more contractions during that 30 minutes! Each session immediately improves the strength and control of your pelvic floor.
Emsella does something else, too: it frequently improves your sex life. Those muscles also supply the tightness of your vaginal grip. With improved ability to do so, your sensations are heightened during intercourse—along with those of your male partner. Win-win.
Benefits of Emsella for Urinary Incontinence Treatment in Houston, TX
- Reduces or eliminates urinary incontinence
- Compatible with with many other treatments
- Quickly improved pelvic floor strength
- Cost-effective alternative to surgery
- No downtime
- Also helps with bowel incontinence
- Improves sexual pleasure/performance
- Can reduce or eliminate need for incontinence medication
- It’s super easy!
Related: The big picture on treatments for urinary incontinence.
Posterior Tibial Nerve Stimulation
Also known as PTNS, this surprising and effective treatment works by stimulating a nerve in your ankle.
Most people don’t know that the posterior tibial nerve, located just behind your ankle, mingles with the bladder nerve and affects urinary incontinence! For the PTNS treatment, Dr. Christi gently taps a very small needle—similar to a tiny acupuncture needle—into the area behind your ankle. It will reside next to the posterior tibial nerve, being near but not touching the nerve.
The needle connects to a neuro-stimulator, which will send tiny electric pulses into the nerve. The treatment lasts about 20 minutes as you rest with your foot propped up.
The procedure is painless, though you may experience a buzzing feeling. At the end of treatment, the needle is removed and you can go on about your day.
We recommend one 20-minute session, weekly, for 12 weeks. After the treatment schedule has finished, maintenance treatments should happen every 3 weeks for 4 months. However, each patient is different, and the exact treatment schedule will be optimized for your situation.
Almost every patient notices a big difference in the number of trips to the bathroom and urine leakage after just a few weeks.
Benefits of PTNS Treatment in Houston, TX
- Non-invasive
- Pharmaceutical-free
- Painless
- Done on an outpatient basis
- No downtime
- Reduces frequency & intensity of pee urges
- Reduction in number of “accidents”
You Have Choices for Bladder Issue Solutions
ChristiMD Medical Group offers several different choices to have non-surgical treatment for overactive bladder in Houston. Schedule an appointment, and let Dr. Christi help you discover what the problem is and what the best solution will be.
Your health and wellness are our first priority. That’s why our offices are warm, inviting, and provide a safe place to discuss all your health concerns. Our entire staff truly believes that when we feel good, we can better spread joy to those around us—and approach life’s everyday challenges in high spirits.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you!