Chronic Urinary Retention Helped Under Chiropractic Care

On April 23, 2024, the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research journal published a case study showing chiropractic helping a woman who had been suffering with chronic non obstructive urinary retention, (UR). Non obstructive UR can be a bladder weakness from muscle and nerve problems where there is an interference with signals between the brain and the bladder. If the nerves aren't working properly, the person's brain may not get the message that the bladder is full, and leakage or an overactive bladder can occur.

The study begins by pointing out, "Non obstructive urinary retention (UR) is considered a difficult disease to treat in women due to the high occurrence of urinary tract infections and renal function decrease." Commonly, the first avenues of medical treatment include diet and lifestyle changes, pelvic floor muscle training, urinary bladder retraining, biofeedback, and drug therapies. If these medical procedures do not work, some patients then receive sacral neuromodulation, a therapy where an implant creates electrical stimulation to a sacral nerve root in hopes of changing the nerve function.

In this case, a 61-year-old woman presented herself to the chiropractor for an evaluation and possible care. The woman had been suffering for years with symptoms of urinary retention causing her to wake up 2-3 times a night to urinate. She also reported trouble feeling when her bladder was full as well as difficulty emptying her bladder and trouble starting to urinate.

The woman had been treated medically for her problem and had a sacral neuromodulation device, "InterStim," surgically implanted. She reported that she had spent over $100,000 on this procedure and was being advised by her medical physician that if her problem did not improve, she would have to undergo the procedure again.

A chiropractic examination and spinal x-rays were performed. The results of the examination and x-rays showed a number of postural and spinal positional issues. The conclusion was that postural abnormalities were apparent with the presence of vertebral subluxations. Specific forms of chiropractic adjustments and procedures were initiated to address these findings.

The initial care involved 24 visits over a 60-day period. After that initial care, a re-evaluation was performed which showed objective improvements in the woman's spine and posture. Additionally, she reported a resolution of her urinary retention problems that she had been suffering with for years and had spent thousands of dollars on.

In the study discussion, the author explains how chiropractic was able to help in this case by quoting the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation, "…the unique role of the chiropractor is separate from other health disciplines and that the professional practice objective of chiropractors may be limited to the analysis, correction or stabilization of the subluxation."

The author sums up this case by stating, "This case shows that the effect of spinal misalignment, through subluxation, can affect the nervous system. By taking pressure off of her nervous system over the course of 24 adjustments her bladder function was greatly improved, and incidental findings of various musculoskeletal conditions had their severity reduced."