Acupuncture for Incontinence

Julian Whitaker, MD

Urinary incontinence affects nearly 40 million Americans, more than twice as many women as men. Yet very few people visit the doctor for it — the majority suffers this awkward problem in silence. Those women who do seek help are usually advised to practice Kegel exercises, which are recommended for stress incontinence (leakage caused by coughing, sneezing, laughing, or straining). However, Kegels are generally not helpful for urge incontinence (when the bladder has spasms and suddenly voids itself).

Fortunately, studies suggest there is an effective therapy for both types of incontinence: acupuncture. In a Swedish study, elderly women had significant improvements in both subjective and objective measurements (grams of leakage) after 12 acupuncture treatments. Japanese researchers also found that an average of 7 treatments completely controlled urge incontinence in more than half of the men and women they studied. Furthermore, the patients also experienced a significant increase in bladder capacity.

Recommendation

• If you suffer from incontinence, give acupuncture a try. To schedule an appointment with one of the skilled acupuncturists at the Whitaker Wellness Institute, call (866) 944-8253.

References

• J Auton Nerv Syst 2000;79:173-80
• Nippon Hinyokika Gakkai Zasshi 1995;86:1514-9.

From Health & Healing with permission from Healthy Directions, LLC. Photocopying, reproduction, or quotation strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher. To subscribe to Health & Healing, click here.