Your four-year-old has been potty trained for two years, but all of a sudden he is waking up to a wet bed. It’s just as frustrating for him as it is for you. Why this sudden change? Does he need to be potty trained all over again?

There are two terms associated with bed-wetting – primary enuresis and secondary enuresis. Secondary enuresis is defined as bedwetting after an extended period of dry nights has been established (six months or more). Primary enuresis is bedwetting that has persisted since infancy. According to Anne Packard-Spicer, DC, DACCP, faculty clinician at the Bloomington Natural Care Center at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minn., primary enuresis generally resolves itself by age 10 and may relate to heredity, altered hormone levels or bladder development.

According to Dr. Packard-Spicer, seeing a chiropractor may be helpful for treating secondary enuresis. The sacrum is a large, roughly triangular-shaped bone at the base of the spine. In childhood this sacrum is made up of five separate bones which fuse by the late teen to early adult years. Misalignments of the sacral segments alter the pathway for the nerve as it exits to the bladder, and information from the bladder as it returns to the brain. This has the ability to change the function of the bladder or the perception by the brain of the fullness of the bladder.
“Chiropractic adjustments correct the misalignment which allows the nerve to carry information freely and completely between the bladder and the brain,” says Dr. Packard-Spicer. “If enuresis or bedwetting is an effect of the misalignment, the chiropractic adjustment can restore normal night-time dryness.”

According to Dr. Packard-Spicer, some possible causes of secondary enuresis include:

• Falling on the buttocks, causing a misalignment of the sacral segments;
• Bladder infections;
• Constipation;
• Strong psychological stressors such as a death in the family; parental abuse; or sexual assault; and
• Children who are chronically overtired.

Other natural health care modalities may also be used to treat secondary enuresis, according to Dr. Packard-Spicer. If a bladder infection has been ruled out, herbs that support the underlying cause may be helpful. An Oriental medicine practitioner or doctor of naturopathic medicine may also be able to treat this condition through the use of herbs or supplements.

So before you pull out the diapers to attempt to re-potty train your child, figure out what the underlying cause is for the change. A simple adjustment may be just what is needed.

Source: Natural News Service, Northwestern Health Sciences University, (Sept. 2009)