Do you notice that your child is struggling with toileting? Is your school-age child:

• still wetting during the day
• still wetting the bed at night
• needing to go to the toilet many times a day
• soiling their underwear
• developing recurrent urinary tract infections?

With 3% of Australian school-aged children suffering from daytime bladder control and 10% suffering from bedwetting, the Mars Clinic was established in 2008 to meet the significant community need for specialist treatment of children’s incontinence. Why the ‘Mars’ Clinic? Because Mars is a dry planet, and this is the place to come to help children become dry too!
The Mars Clinic provides assessment and treatment for both bladder and bowel conditions. Common conditions treated at the Mars Clinic include:

• Daytime Wetting
• Bedwetting (enuresis)
• Urinary Urgency & Frequency
• Voiding Dysfunction
• Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections
• Soiling
• Constipation
• Non-invasive Urodynamics
• Urostym Biofeedback

We understand the sometimes-embarrassing nature of continence issues. All sessions are conducted together with you and your child in a private treatment room. Physiotherapists providing this service have undertaken specialised training in the assessment and treatment of children’s incontinence.

Treatment at the Mars Clinic will vary depending on the cause of the bladder or bowel condition. Types of treatment may include:

• Teaching correct bladder and bowel habits
• Practical advice and strategies for management at home
• Timed voiding and drinking programs
• Urostym biofeedback computer games to teach pelvic floor muscle control
• Uroflow voiding biofeedback to encourage correct voiding habits
• TENS neuromodulation to retrain nerve pathways
• Nighttime alarm therapy for the treatment of bedwetting
• Referral to a medical specialist, or other allied health professional, as required.

Ultrasound, Urostym & Uroflow Technology

Active Rehabilitation Physiotherapy has advanced technology for the diagnosis and treatment of many bladder and bowel conditions. Active Rehab is the only facility in Australia with this range of cutting edge technology for children’s continence.

Using a Diagnostic Ultrasound, your child’s Physiotherapist can help them identify their pelvic floor and other core muscles that assist in the management of bladder and bowel issues. Ultrasound allows your child to actually see their own muscles working and helps them to learn the correct muscle action.

The Urostym and Uroflow system is a non-invasive, computerised biofeedback system for assessment and treatment of pelvic floor disorders and incontinence in children. Using small electronic receivers placed on the skin of the pelvic region, the system is able to measure pelvic floor muscle activity. Assessment using the Uroflow allows your child’s Physiotherapist to measure bladder volumes, which are then sent via Bluetooth to the main computer for analysis. Specially-trained Physiotherapists use this information to tailor specific treatment for continence disorders.

The Urostym system is also used as a training device. Information from the pelvic muscle receivers is displayed on-screen in real-time and can be used during a program of exercises. The system is excellent for children – the exercise programs are presented as computer games with animated characters, allowing your child to play a game while learning to improve the control of their pelvic muscles.

Medicare Funding for Physiotherapy for Treatment of Children’s Continence

As bladder and bowel conditions are often long-term issues, some patients may be able to access Medicare funding to reduce the cost of physiotherapy to treat children with bladder or bowel conditions. This is usually available for patients whose General Practitioner has initiated a Medicare Team Care Arrangement or Enhanced Primary Care Program. Speak with your General Practitioner for more information and to find out if this type of funding is available for you.