What is Nocturnal Enuresis?
Nocturnal enuresis is defined as involuntary voiding during sleep, at least twice a week for children above five years of age, when they have been symptomatic for a minimum of three months.
75% of children with enuresis are wet only during the night. 25% of children with enuresis are wet during the day and night.
Bedwetting is associated with many factors such as low self-esteem of the child, being teased by peers, stress, low economic status of the family, and anxiety according to many previous types of research.
The second major reason was found to be deep sleep, parents explained it to us as "My child plays a lot, which gets him/her tired and ends up wetting the bed at night".
The third major reason for bedwetting was due to the cold weather. Parents mentioned that their child's bedwetting is at a reasonable frequency during summers but dramatically increases during the winters.
Surprisingly, our research experiments and surveys reveal the cause of bedwetting as dreaming about sitting on an imaginary toilet.
Bedwetting is a very common condition to be looked into and carry out more awareness programs among our Indian population.
Through our research and surveys, we observed that very few parents really cared for their child's bedwetting whereas the majority of the parents assumed bedwetting was self-curable and didn't need any medical assistance.
Hence, we made parents aware about the word 'bedwetting', what it accurately means, its causes, risk factors, and the need for physiotherapy through a nocturnal enuresis brochure.
Why Try Physiotherapy?
Many clinical trials show that children who received physiotherapy improved significantly in their frequency of bedwetting.
The majority of children’s bedwetting was cured with tDCS (Transcranial direct current stimulation), pelvic floor strengthening exercises, Behavioural therapy, and yoga for pelvic floor muscles.
Is Physiotherapy Safe for Children?
Yes, Physiotherapy is safe and can be provided to even the youngest members of our society.
Adverse events are out of common, they usually involve a short period of muscle fatigue which does not require following medical care.
In the future, if you come across a kid or a parent with complaints of bedwetting that is not normal, do send them to a physiotherapist!!
References
- https://images.app.goo.gl/yFqR9t6N2X79f3cU8
- https://images.app.goo.gl/MmVoNZBA4u7SWbQh7
- https://images.app.goo.gl/2ARL4qgcjuw8yhHu5
- https://images.app.goo.gl/z41pXYYWnZyc3obZ9
- https://youtu.be/f7JglovUI14
Authors:
Dr. Vidhi Shah (Associate Professor, Ph.D Scholar)
Dr. Tushar Palekar (Principal)
Mehar Bhavsar (Intern)
Akanksha Mittal (Intern)
Images Source - Google Images