Understanding Bladder and Bowel Control Issues Postpartum | Denver, CO

Bringing new life into the world can be one of the most joyous moments in your life. But that doesn’t negate the real-life struggles many women face postpartum. Vaginal childbirth especially puts a lot of stress on the body and can have both a functional and aesthetic impact. One of the most common concerns we see is loss of bladder and/or bowel control.

Let’s look at how these symptoms develop and what we can do to help you find relief:

Postpartum pelvic floor issues

Supportive pelvic muscles weaken during pregnancy as they support your growing baby. They are then stretched and strained during labor, sometimes leading to unpleasant urinary concerns, and in an advanced state, pelvic organ prolapse. This is when the bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum become damaged from childbirth, causing the pelvic floor to lose strength and pelvic organs to drop down and bulge out of the vagina. This neuromuscular trauma can lead to pelvic pain and loss of sexual sensation as well as urinary and fecal control issues, ranging from mild leakage to severe incontinence. Fortunately, postpartum pelvic floor issues can be improved with treatment.

Non-surgical and surgical solutions

• VTone provides gentle intravaginal electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) and neuromuscular re-education via a small, anatomically shaped applicator. When instead into the vaginal canal, VTone helps strengthen weak pelvic floor muscles to treat urge, stress and mixed urinary incontinence.
• Kegels exercises can be performed daily to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and improve urinary incontinence symptoms. Kegels involve squeezing and releasing your pelvic floor muscles repeatedly and can be done without any special equipment.
• Biofeedback is a mind-body technique that helps you improve control over your certain muscle groups by gauging the electrical activity of the pelvic floor and graphing the output.
• Surgery can be a highly effective route of treatment to meet your exact needs. Dr. Aguirre has extensive expertise in treating pelvic organ prolapse among other pelvic concerns using the most advanced techniques.
• Sacral neuromodulation systems like InterStim® and Axonics® Therapy use mild electrical stimulation of the sacral nerves to improve pelvic floor muscle and bowel behavior. Sacral nerve stimulation focuses on restoring the functionality of the bowel and bladder that has been compromised by events such as childbirth trauma.

If you’re interested in taking back control of your body and enhancing your quality of life, we can’t wait to help you explore your options at Aguirre Specialty Care! To get started, call 303-322-0500 or request a consultation online today.