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.