Fellowship-Trained Urogynecologist
Urogynecology & Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery
Green Bay, Wisconsin
✓ Medically reviewed March 2026
Can physical therapy help urinary incontinence?
Yes, and it’s often the most effective first-line treatment. Pelvic floor physical therapy involves working with a specialized therapist who assesses your pelvic floor muscles and develops a targeted program to improve their strength, coordination, and endurance. For many women, it reduces or eliminates incontinence without medication or surgery.
How it works
Pelvic floor physical therapy is not just Kegel exercises. Kegels are a small part of the equation. Good muscle function requires strength, relaxation and elongation, coordination, and endurance, and the best physical therapists address all of these.
A specialized therapist will also look at the surrounding structures — hips, thighs, and core — because they all affect how your pelvic floor works. Many patients make great strides with breathing, postural, and bracing changes alone. Your therapist may use biofeedback to show you exactly which muscles to engage, develop a personalized program for your specific patterns, and progress your exercises as you improve.
What to expect
Your first visit typically lasts about an hour and includes a detailed discussion of your symptoms and goals, an external and internal assessment of your pelvic floor muscles, education about your anatomy, and initial exercises to start at home.
Follow-up sessions (usually weekly or biweekly) involve progress assessment, advancing your exercise program as muscles strengthen, behavioral strategies for managing urgency, and techniques for using your pelvic floor muscles during activities that trigger leaking.
The evidence
Research consistently shows that pelvic floor therapy reduces stress incontinence episodes by 60-70% in most women, helps manage urgency and urge incontinence through muscle coordination and suppression techniques, and has essentially no risks or side effects.
Dr. Stewart’s perspective
“Pelvic floor physical therapy is one of the most underutilized treatments in medicine. It’s my first recommendation for nearly every type of incontinence, and it’s an investment in your pelvic floor regardless of what other treatments we pursue.”
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