What is urinary incontinence in women?
Urinary incontinence is the unavoidable and often unexpected flow or urine. Urinary incontinence can happen to blow sexes, but it is more commonly found in women.
Most women will experience a small amount of leakage at some point in life, though this is usually not seriously affecting or problematic. It is when persistent leakage occurs that problems are experienced.
Urinary incontinence can be extremely severe, causing some women to have to change their clothing several times per day. It is important to remember that incontinence is a symptom of a larger, more serious condition, disease or injury. Be sure to visit a doctor if you experience incontinence at any point.
Types of incontinence
N.B – it is more common to have more than one form of urinary incontinence overlap, and each person will have different reasons for the problem; however, these are the most common causes of incontinence:
Stress incontinence is the most common form of incontinence. It occurs when pressure is put on the bladder, which cannot keep shut due to a weakening of the pelvic muscles that surround the bladder. Pressure types can include simple and daily motions, such as sneezing and coughing.
Stress incontinence often occurs after pregnancy or childbirth, when the pelvic floor muscles have been stretched and damaged. Kegel exercises are the most common way of curing stress incontinence.
Urge incontinenceis another common form of incontinence. It happens when an overwhelming urge to get to the toilet is not met, and urination happens anyway. Urge incontinence e is common o those who have had nerve damage, which means that messages are not sent to the brain fast enough and too little forewarning is given that the toilet is needed.
Overflow incontinence: This type of incontinence involves patients who simple cannot fully empty the bladder. This causes constant leakage and dribbling. Overflow incontinence can be caused by nerve damage.
Mixed incontinence: This is, as the name will suggest, the name given to two or more different types of incontinence overlapping. Usually most women will have more than one form of incontinence, but the symptoms of one type will be less than the other, causing little issue to the patient.
Functional incontinence: This is where the patient is physically unable to get to the toilet. This is common in the old aged and the disabled. An example would be if a person in a wheel chair was unable to get to the toilet quick enough, after the first signs of needing to go to the toilet were experienced.
When to go to the doctor
As previously mentioned, incontinence is just a symptom of another problem. It is highly important to seek the help of a medical professional, even if mild incontinence is experienced.
It can be daunting approaching a doctor about incontinence as it is a delicate issue, but doctors are trained to deal with all issues sensitively and confidentiality is always strict. It is also likely that your problem can be fixed through simple and natural means, such as kegel exercising.
Kegel exercise
Kegel exercises are the most natural way of preventing and curing stress incontinence. They are also a great way to improve sexual drive. Kegel exercises involve contracting the muscles that surround the bladder, in order to build strength and control. They can be done anywhere, and they take less than 10 minutes to complete.
Kegel exercising can help you to cure incontinence in less than 2 months, though some people experience results faster and other experience results slower – it is highly dependent on the severity of your condition.
If you are interested in learning about how to locate the muscle that needs to be contracted, please call or see your doctor for further guidance. As a rule of thumb, it is the muscle that is contracted when urination is stopped half way through.
Problems with mental health
Urinary incontinence can cause serious psychological problems for women – the main one being acrophobia, which is the fear of going outside. This is probably experienced because urinating in public is a highly embarrassing event. Depression can also stem from agoraphobia, which can cause a downward spiral of mental health. It is therefore, highly important to fix urinary incontinence when possible.
