Bladder Complaints and Acupuncture
Bladder complaints are common, mostly with women. In your daily business they can cause a lot of inconvenience. Inadvertent loss of urine, pain when urinating or having a constant urge; this can properly affect your daily functioning. You may think that these complaints are normal because you are getting older or have had one or more children. Nothing is less true.
Bladder infection
Bladder infection occurs often in women. Urine is collected in the bladder and leaves the body via the urethra. Because women have a short urinary tract, bacteria from outside can easily cause an infection of the bladder. Usually the bacteria come from the area around the anus. But bacteria can also reach the bladder from outside through the urethra during the sexual intercourse. Personal hygiene is therefore very important in the prevention of cystitis. Men can also contract bladder infections, albeit less quickly. Bladder infection in men can lead to prostate infection and visa versa. The prostate gland is located around the urethra. The symptoms of cystitis are painful and annoying. A pressure sensation in the lower abdomen and back, a constant urge to urinate, a burning sensation or pain when urinating are the most common complaints. To know if your symptoms are caused by a bladder infection, you can have a urine test done by your GP.
Restoring the balance
Acupuncture is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This age-old medicine is based on the insight that physical and mental complaints arise from disruptions in the body’s energy management. With acupuncture these disruptions can be repaired so the energy flow in your body is brought back into balance.
Acupuncture stimulates the body and mind to heal itself.
During an acupuncture treatment, very thin needles are placed at certain points on the body. You can hardly feel it. To increase the effect of the treatment, for example, the needles can be heated with moxa (mugwort). The needles remain in place for around twenty minutes. Acupuncture has virtually no side effects. The treatment can be supplemented with a massage, herbal therapy or dietary advice. And certainly by us you can expect as well a totally painless Laserneedle acupuncture treatment, it helps great for the bladder infection.
Incontinence
When we are unable or hardly able to cease to urinate (or hold our stool) we say we are incontinent. If there is a loss of urine without urgency, it is called stress or exercise incontinence. This often occurs after pregnancy or in older women, due to weakening of the pelvic floor muscles. It arises with sudden exertion such as coughing, running or laughing. Another form is urge incontinence. This occurs with women and men. There is an urge here but it is not possible to hold up the urine. Sometimes urge incontinence is caused by a bladder infection, diabetes or neurological disorder. The symptoms are very similar to those of an overactive bladder. In case of the latter there is a strong urge to go to the toilet more than eight times a day, but it is still possible to hold the urine.
Can acupuncture help with bladder complaints?
For starters the acupuncturist wants to know the cause of your symptoms. If that is clear, he can adjust the treatment accordingly.
In the case of incontinence, treatment is aimed, among other things, at increasing the muscle tone around the bladder and into the pelvic floor. In the case of cystitis the treatment is aimed at increasing your general resistance, so that bacteria are less likely to multiply. In addition, we immediately do painless laser needle acupuncture on the abdomen. In this way the inflammation is controlled. Acupuncture treatment improves the condition and functioning of the urinary tract. The major advantage of acupuncture with this type of complaint is that it also has a preventive effect. How many treatments are needed depends on the nature and severity of your symptoms. Your acupuncturist will tell you more.