How Does Biofeedback Work to Correct Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

Pelvic floor dysfunction is a condition that affects many women in the United States, especially as they get older. This condition can cause embarrassing symptoms like unexpected urine leaks and more serious complications like pelvic organ prolapse.

Our highly skilled urologists understand how frustrating pelvic floor dysfunction can be. To lower your risk for severe symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, we offer noninvasive therapies like biofeedback in-office at Urology Specialist Group.

Understanding pelvic floor dysfunction

Pelvic floor dysfunction develops when the connective tissues and muscles in your pelvic floor become weak or are damaged by the trauma of childbirth.

Your pelvic floor muscles are responsible for supporting your uterus and other reproductive organs. They also hold your bladder, bowel, and other organs in place. Without sufficient support, these organs can drop downward and even protrude out of the vaginal opening.

Pelvic floor dysfunction can cause symptoms that become progressively worse over time. These symptoms can include:

• Constipation
• Frequent urge to urinate
• Unexpected stool or urine leaks
• Heaviness in the vagina
• Pain with intercourse

If your pelvic floor organs protrude out of your body, you may see or feel a bulge in the area.

Any of these symptoms require a comprehensive medical evaluation by our urology team. Our specialists evaluate the severity of your symptoms and physically examine the structures in your pelvic floor to determine what treatment is best for you.

Benefits of biofeedback for pelvic floor dysfunction

Biofeedback is a noninvasive treatment that uses special sensors to measure activity in the muscles of the pelvic floor. The sensors relay information (feedback) about the activity to a computer monitor.

Our team uses this feedback to understand how you can better control your pelvic floor muscles to reduce urine leaks and other symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction. 

We can then recommend exercises you can do daily to strengthen specific muscles in your body. The more consistent you are in exercising these muscles, the more effective your biofeedback results will be. 

What to expect during a biofeedback session

During your visit to our office for a biofeedback session, our team helps you get comfortable in a chair before placing sensors on your body. We use two sensors – one that goes on your abdomen and one that goes in your anal canal.

As you relax or tighten your pelvic floor muscles, the sensors send information about muscle activity to a monitor. Our providers watch the monitor to see how muscle activity changes with your movements, so they can teach you which muscles to target during muscle-strengthening exercises.

Biofeedback sessions typically last about an hour. Our team can determine how many sessions you need to complete your muscle training.During your visit, we can also recommend lifestyle and diet changes you can make to prevent unexpected urine and stool leaks.

To optimize your biofeedback results, you should follow the guidelines our team provides closely. In the event biofeedback training isn’t working well to improve symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction or your condition progresses to pelvic floor prolapse, our providers offer pelvic floor reconstruction services to surgically repair weak pelvic floor muscles.

Call the Urology Specialist Group office in Hialeah or Miami Lakes, Florida, to schedule a pelvic floor dysfunction consultation or book an appointment online today.