Dr.Preeti Rastogi: Advice to Overcome Urinary Incontinence

Many women think bladder control is a problem that happens when you get older .The trust is that women of all ages may experience urinary leakage .Many women leak urine when they exercise, laugh hard, cough or sneeze. Often women leak urine when they are pregnant or after they have given birth. Women who have stopped having their periods, i.e. have reached menopause, often report bladder control problems. So, you don’t have to ‘just’ live with it’. You can do something about it and regain control of your bladder.

TYPES OF PROMBLES

• Stress incontinence: If you leak urine when you cough, laugh hard, cough, sneeze or exercise. You have stress incontinence.

• Urge incontinence: If you have to urinate eight or more times a day and if you leak urine after a strong, sudden urge to urinate, you have urge incontinence. You may also wake up many times at night to pass urine.

• Mixed Incontinence: It is a mix of stress and urge incontinence. You may leak urine with a laugh or sneeze at one time .At another time, you may have a sudden, uncontrollable urge to urinate just before you leak.

CAUSES

• Weak muscles: Most bladder control problems are caused by weak pelvic muscles. These muscles may become stretched and weak during pregnancy and childbirth.

• Nerve damage: Damaged nerves may send signals to the bladder spasm may push out urine without warning.

• Infection: A urinary tract infection can irritate bladder nerves and cause the bladder to squeeze without warning. This type of incontinence goes away once the infection has been cured.

• Overweight: Being overweight can put pressure on the bladder and contribute to stress incontinence.

TREATMENT: You may find that avoiding caffeinated drink such as coffee, tea or cola helps your bladder control. You can choose the decaf medicine or using a device .Surgery may also help a woman with stress incontinence to regain bladder control.