Elizabeth is a 27-year-old patient who visited Dynamic Sports Physical Therapy in New York City because she had been dealing with urinary frequency and urgency issues for about 5 years. When explaining her symptoms, she said that her urgency to go to the bathroom did not correlate with the amount of liquid that she was consuming. In addition, once she got the urge to urinate, it was very strong, and she had little control over it. Elizabeth also reported that she had tried pelvic floor physical therapy and found it to be both helpful and educational, but she was still experiencing symptoms even after following all recommendations given to her. Therefore, Elizabeth’s therapist referred her to our licensed acupuncturist, Mila Mintsis, for additional treatments.
Mila first performed a physical examination to determine how several key muscles involved in bladder emptying were functioning. The examination revealed that there was increased tone and sensitivity in the quadratus lumborum, gluteal, piriformis, and adductor muscles, all of which are related to pelvic floor function. In addition, Elizabeth reported a feeling of bladder fullness and urge to urinate when pressure was applied to her abdominal muscles.
Ongoing conversations also revealed that general stress and specifically feelings of anger, anxiety, and irritability all made her symptoms worse. Elizabeth said that she felt lost in life and often felt irritable in public situations, and these emotions made her tense up physically and increased her urge to urinate.
Based on this evaluation, Mila used essential oils and performed acupuncture and cupping during treatment sessions. These interventions were intended to decrease the tone of tight muscles, calm the sympathetic response, and relax the nervous system. Elizabeth was also instructed to use a device called a TENS unit at home every day as part of the percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) protocol. Mila taught Elizabeth how to relax her muscles in public situations to decrease the feeling of urgency and gave her several books to help her change her mindset and find some direction in life as well.
After nine sessions, Elizabeth reported that she was completely symptom-free. She followed all of Mila’s recommendations and said that learning how to relax was the biggest challenge but also made the biggest difference in public situations. Elizabeth had this to say about her overall experience: “Mila is patient, caring and very knowledgeable. She gave me a lot of helpful suggestions and her treatments were life-changing!”
Experience similar outcomes at Dynamic Sports Physical Therapy in New York City
Elizabeth’s story represents a fairly common situation at our practice: she patient was improving to an extent, but not enough, with physical therapy, so additional treatments from our acupuncturist were needed. We’re thrilled to see that these other interventions eventually eliminated Elizabeth’s symptoms, and we wish her continued success in the future. So if you’re dealing with urinary issues of your own or any other musculoskeletal pain, Dynamic Sports Physical Therapy in New York City can help you achieve similar outcomes. Contact us at 212-317-8303 to schedule an appointment today or click here to read or last blog for more information on bladder problems.
