Bladder and Urinary Tract Problems
Upper cervical management of a patient with
neuromusculoskeletal and visceral complaints. McCoy M. Today’s
Chiropractic May/June 2001. P. 46-47.
This is the case of a
65-year-old man with symptoms of urinary difficulties (having
to urinate every half hour), lower leg pain and parasthesias
(tinglings and nerve sensations), walking problems, and visual
problems. These problems followed back surgery. Patient also
had high blood pressure and gout of his right big toe, fingers,
ankles and elbows. He was on Indocin for the gout, medication
for high blood pressure and wore glasses for reading.
His case
history revealed that twice as a child he suffered from head
trauma with one time falling over a railing and landing directly
on top of his head.
Chiropractic care: After his first spinal
adjustment he reported that during the evening he experienced
shock-like sensations bilaterally into his arms and legs, chills,
a fever, coldness in his hands, sweats, and an increase in
frequency of urination, gluteal muscle soreness and loss
of appetite. By the next morning the symptoms resolved.
The
patient received twenty chiropractic visits over a 5 month
period. On 7 of those visits he did not need an adjustment.
He reported a decrease in frequency of urination to only
a few times a day (down from every half hour) and didn’t
need his glasses for reading anymore. The numbness and tingling
along the right side of his body resolved, he was walking
better, his legs felt stronger, he was not using his cane
much and sitting were standing are less troublesome.
Abnormal
spinal curvature and its relationship to pelvic organ prolapse
Mattox, TF, Lucente, V, McIntyre, P American Journal of Obstetrics
and Gynecology 2000;183:1381-4.
An abnormal change in spinal
curvature, specifically, a loss of lumbar lordosis, appears
to be a significant risk factor in the development of pelvic
organ prolapse and urinary incontinence in this study of 363
patients referred for urinary incontinence or pelvic organ
prolapse.
When compared with patients with a normal curvature,
patients with an abnormal spinal curvature were 3.2 times more
likely to have developed pelvic organ prolapse.
A conservative
approach for a patient with traumatically induced urinary incontinence.
Stude DE. Bergmann TF, Finer BA J Manipulative Physiol Ther
1998; 21:363-367.
This is the case of a 12-year-old girl complaining
of left lower back and flank pain and involuntary urine loss
that began a short time after she fell backwards and landed
on her coccyx.
She began getting adjustments 3 times/week for
three weeks. Her lower back pain decreased by 50% and her urine “leakage” also
improved. After a few months of no further change, an intrarectal
sacro-coccxy adjustment was performed four times after which
all back pain and all urinary incontinence disappeared. At
a follow-up 1 year and 4 months later there was no return
of symptoms.
The mechanically induced pelvic pain and organic
dysfunction syndrome: an often overlooked cause of bladder,
bowel, gynecological, and sexual dysfunction. Browning JE.
Journal of the Neuromusculoskeletal System,1996; 4:52-66
The
mechanically induced pelvic pain and organic dysfunction (PPOD)
syndrome is thought to be caused by subluxations of the lumbar
spine affecting lower sacral nerves.
Sufferers with PPOD can
have low back pain, bladder, bowel, gynecologic and/or sexual
dysfunction.
This is the case of a 29-year old woman with bilateral
pelvic and low back pain, inguinal pain, urinary stress incontinence,
loss of genital sensitivity, loss of libido and vaginal discharge.
A gynecological exam failed to reveal any pathology.
Sacral
nerve root involvement, secondary to a L5/S1 disc herniation
was found. Under chiropractic care the patient initially experienced
symptoms of pain and paraesthesia of the genitalia which disappeared
quickly. Within one week her bladder dysfunction had resolved
and the other symptoms were less severe.
After 4 weeks, her
other symptoms had completely resolved.
Links between pelvic
biomechanics and lower urinary tract dysfunction. Stone C.
Physiother 1996; 82:616-27.
A literature review on the relationship
between lower urinary dysfunction and the pelvic structure.
Both osteopathic and chiropractic researchers are mentioned.
Low
back pain and urinary incontinence: a hypothetical relationship.
Eisenstein SM, Engelbrecht DJ, and El Masry WS Spine, 1994;
19(10): 1,148-1,152.
This study comes from a medical orthopedic
practice.
Sixteen patients with low back pain had urinary incontinence.
When surgery reduced low back pain successfully (11 of 12
patients), the urgency incontinence was cured or improved.
(Note:
Too bad they didn’t try adjustments first.)
Chiropractic
distractive decompression in the treatment of pelvic pain and
organic dysfunction in patients with evidence of lower sacral
nerve root compression. Browning JE. Journal of Manipulative
and Physiological Therapeutics, 1988, 11(5): 426-432.
This is
a review of ten cases including a 41-year-old married woman
with a 20-year history of urological, gynecological, sexual
and bowel disorders. After two weeks of care, bladder and bowel
control returned to normal. The sexual difficulties resolved
completely.
Copyright 2004 Koren Publications, Inc. & Tedd
Koren, D.C.
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