NCT02743962

A Pilot Study Investigating the Use of a Therapeutic Wand in Addition to Physiotherapy for Bladder Pain Syndrome

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 10 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Bradford · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Bladder pain syndrome is a condition where pain is experienced when the bladder fills with urine and eases briefly when the bladder empties. There can also be a constant need to urgently empty the bladder. The internal pelvic floor muscles in people with bladder pain syndrome can be tense and painful, and relaxing and stretching them may improve symptoms; reducing bladder pain, urgency and how often people have to empty their bladder. This pelvic floor release is done by specialist physiotherapists.Therapeutic wands, such as the TheraWand®, are used routinely throughout the United Kingdom to allow people to relax and stretch their pelvic floor themselves. Using a therapeutic wand has been shown to be safe and to reduce pelvic pain, improve bladder and bowel symptoms and relax the pelvic floor muscles. However, this research was conducted mostly in men with pelvic pain. The aim of this study is to find out if using a therapeutic wand at home as well as having a specialist physiotherapist massage the pelvic floor gives any added benefit than just having the physiotherapy treatment. The investigators hope to find out if the therapeutic wand gives women a way of managing their symptoms independently in their own homes.

Detailed description

A volunteer sample of ten women will be recruited and randomised into two groups, with descriptive analysis of their demographics at baseline. Both groups will receive six weeks of standard pelvic floor myofascial release by a specialist physiotherapist and one group will also use a therapeutic wand twice weekly at home. Outcome measures of bladder urgency, pain, health related quality of life and the perceived effect and ease of therapeutic wand use will be measured weekly for six weeks of treatment and then six weeks following treatment. A diary of therapeutic wand use, release exercises and medication use will also be kept for 3 months. Analysis of any significant difference in symptom change between the two groups and of subjective ease of wand use will then occur and inform the development of a randomised controlled trial.

Conditions

• Painful Bladder Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Therapeutic Wand	The therapeutic wand will be used to apply a gentle caudad pressure on the pelvic floor, encouraging a release and gentle stretch of the muscles. The participants will follow a protocol of sweeping gently along one side then the other to find tender or tight areas, and then to apply the wand to relax and stretch the muscles for up to 5 minutes in total, twice weekly for the duration of the study.
OTHER	Routine physiotherapy control	This group will receive standard specialist physiotherapy intervention for bladder pain syndrome as stated in the arm descriptor, and will not use the therapeutic wand.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-04-01
• Primary completion: 2016-10-01
• Completion: 2016-10-01
• First posted: 2016-04-19
• Last updated: 2018-05-03
• Results posted: 2018-05-03