A Chinese Herbal Decoction for Stress Urinary Incontinence

Participants take a Chinese herbal decoction, Yiqi Suoquan Tang, 200ml orally twice a day for 12 weeks. The Yiqi Suoquan Tang are composed of Radix Astragali 30 g, Radix Codonopsis pilosula 10g, Radix Angelica sinensis 10g, Radix Atractylodis Macrocephalae 10g, Fructus Alpiniae Oxyphyllae 10g, Radix Lindera aggregata 6g, Rhizoma Dioscoreae 10g, pericarpium citri reticulatae 10g, Rhizoma Cimicifuga 10g, Radix Bupleuri 10g, Fructus Rubi 15g, and Semen raphani 10g. All the decoctions are provided by the Department of Pharmacy, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and are packed in opaque plastic bags with 200 ml for each one.

In intensive exercises, participants are taught how to identify the muscles: 1) identify anal sphincter/feel anus, and try to raise it from chair (without adding abdominal, thigh, and buttock muscles) with a position of sitting; 2) identify levator ani and try to raise vagina from chair (without adding abdominal, thigh, and buttock muscles) with a position of Sitting, bent forward, elbows on knees; 3) contract levator ani with a position of sitting, lying, and standing; 4) contract anal sphincter with a position of sitting, lying, and standing. Once the participants can identify the muscles, they are asked to do a set consists of 10 contractions, each lasting 5 seconds, with a 5 seconds break between contractions. Then they need to do same procedure 3 times daily as the home exercises.