Specialist Physio - Assessment Details
The assessment is split up into two main parts, these are outlined below:
- Discussion
The first visit will take about one hour. I will ask some questions about your general health and medical history. I would also need to ask more specific questions about how your bladder trouble affects your daily life e.g.- How long have you had poor control over your waterworks?
- Do you need to wear a pad
- How often do you leak?
- Routine tests
- Urinalysis. A small sample of your urine would be checked for signs of infection, blood or sugar. This is important to ensure there are no other problems with your general health or waterworks.
- Bladder Chart. This is a simple diary which you would be asked to take away and fill in for a few days. It gives information about how much and how often you drink, how often you pass urine and how much your bladder can hold.
- Examination. Research shows that the only way to effectively assess how well the pelvic floor muscles are working is by performing a vaginal examination. I do this kind of examination for three main reasons:
- To check nothing else is contributing to your bladder problem e.g. a prolapse
- To ensure you can contract the pelvic floor muscles correctly. It is possible to make incontinence worse by 'bearing down' which overloads and strains the muscles even more
- To accurately assess the quality of the muscles to ensure you receive a specific programme of exercises and treatment that's tailor made to your needs. The power, endurance, speed and recovery of the muscle is assessed.