Bed wetting has been a problem for centuries. Medical literature dating back to the 1500s discusses issues related to urinating while asleep. It was commonly thought that children who wet at night had psychological and emotional problems. Now it is known that many different children with many different personalities wet at night, even without obvious emotional or psychological problems. Even children and young adults, who are seemingly well adjusted, also have accidents at night. The exact cause for bed wetting is still unknown. An effective means of helping correct bed wetting in young children is called pelvic floor therapy pediatric.
The Bedwetting Issue
Based on extensive data on bed wetting, it has been found that millions of children all over the world bed wet and that the number of children who wet at night is increasing. Over 7 million children in the U.S. experience bedwetting wherein 2/3 of kids who wet at night are boys, 10-33% of 5-6-year-olds bed wet, 8-15% of 7-8-year-olds bed wet, and less than 5% of those older than 10 years of age bed wet. Also, children whose parents were bed wetters have a 40% chance of bed wetting and if both parents were bed wetters then the chances increase to 75% that their children will wet at night and 20% of bed wetters also wet during the day. Despite the statistics, the good news is that 15% become dry each year, around 70% of children will “outgrow” bed wetting by the time they are 11 years old and 99% will no longer have bed wetting episodes at night by the time they turn 15 and only less than 1% of children with nighttime wetting have a medical explanation for their problems contrary to popular belief that bed wetting is associated with deep psychological and medical issues. It has now been established that bed wetting almost always happens due to a learned response wherein the child not wanting to stop or disrupt his or her activities will hold their urine until they are no longer able to recognize the signals sent to the brain of a full bladder. This usually leads to leakage and accidents, especially at night. Since bed wetting is a behavioral issue, pelvic floor therapy pediatric can help young children improve their control over their bladder and be able to recognize when they should go to the bathroom to relieve themselves.
The Constipation Issue
Constipation is characterized by irregular and tough fecal passage. The occurrence of bowel habits differs from child to child, just as it does in grownups. In terms of normal bowel movement, at least one bowel movement per day through proper physical activity and diet management can be attained. Constipation is defined as having fewer than three bowel movements each week. Constipation can be caused by a wide variety of factors, such as avoiding bowel movements due to the pain induced by cracked skin defined as “fissures,” eating plan, disease, trips, or generally poor bowel movements. For example, as with urinary voiding, kids may completely disregard the urge to urinate because they do not want to disrupt their activities. The child will “hold it in” by tightening the external sphincter and suppressing the urge to poop. Constipation is common in children who have bladder-voiding dysfunction, as the two conditions tend to coexist. Furthermore, research indicates that far too many grown-ups who suffer from constipation also struggled with this as kids. In the same way that urine-voiding behavior can be corrected with pelvic floor therapy pediatric, it can also help with constipation in children.
What is Pelvic Floor Therapy Pediatric?
Biofeedback will be used in the pelvic floor therapy pediatric procedure to treat the children’s poor pelvic floor muscle control. The patient will be connected to the biofeedback monitor via two externally placed stickers. The PT will then instruct the child to “tighten,” “loosen up,” and “protrude” their pelvic floor while receiving feedback from the biofeedback screen. This method will assist the child in taking control of his or her pelvic region. In addition, when it comes to constipation, biofeedback could assist by teaching children how to thrust and elongates the pelvic floor, which is not always done correctly. Furthermore, the pediatric physical therapist will teach them when to use their breath to help with pelvic floor muscle control. This exercise is frequently performed with bubbles that children seem to find enjoyable. The biofeedback mechanism is noninvasive and will provide the needed exercise in controlling pelvic floor muscles to develop muscle tone and strength which can also help regulate urine and bowel movement.
Where to Get Pelvic Floor Therapy Pediatric?
For the most part, the procedures offered by pelvic floor therapy pediatric providers are relatively new, and not many specialize in this subfield as working with young children is indeed difficult. However, since there is now a changing perspective on how to effectively treat bed wetting and constipation, more and more parents are having their children treated for this. Thus, there is a steady market and maybe more than the present number of pediatric physical therapy clinics in the country could handle. If you are interested in this treatment, then you can execute a web search of the keywords and check the websites contained on the results page. You just need to concentrate on the first five websites and surely you will find one that will appeal to you. If you want to stay within your locality, then also include your location in the keyword search. If there is none near you, then go to the next town or the nearest state where you can find one. If you have decided which clinic to go to, initiate contact first by asking for a consultation which most clinics provide free of charge. During the meeting, make sure to provide a complete health history of your child and the frequency of bed wetting and constipation in a given week. This will help establish the scope and intensity of the problem and the physical therapists would be able to design a treatment plan appropriate for the condition of the child. You can then go over the treatment plan and ask questions if some of it ar not clear to you.
About the Author/s
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.
