No one wants to deal with urinary incontinence. Losing control of one’s bladder is a troubling experience. Urinary incontinence can feel embarrassing when it occurs at an inopportune time. There’s a huge variety of things that can cause urinary incontinence. It’s very common for both men and women to suffer from urinary incontinence, though many women deal with it more often.
There are several types of urinary incontinence and a wide variety of causes. However, there’s some good news. There are ways that urinary incontinence can be treated. In some cases, the treatment is designed at the underlying issues, but many times it’s directly aimed at stopping it from occurring. If treatment fails, there are still products to assist in discreetly handling the issue.
Types of Urinary Incontinence
There are several different types of urinary incontinence that can be caused. Each of them causes issues with the bladder in a different way. Some of the main types of urinary incontinence include:
- Urge Incontinence - This is a very common form where people feel an intense need to urinate. Immediately after, there is some involuntary urine that leaves the body. People who suffer from it often have to urinate many times throughout the night and day.
- Overflow Incontinence - This form of urinary incontinence has to do with the shape of the bladder. It won’t completely empty during urination and results in excessive dribbling afterwards.
- Stress Incontinence - This can be very common. When the body is under moments of physical stress, it can result in incontinence. This includes moments like sneezing, laughing or coughing. It also includes exercise, certain sports and weight lifting.
- Functional Incontinence - This form of incontinence is due to issues with the body. It’s possible to simply be unable to prepare oneself for the washroom in time. Arthritis for example can cause people to be unable to unbutton quickly enough.
- Mixed Incontinence - In this case, multiple forms of incontinence combine to cause problems together.
Causes of Urinary Incontinence
There are a wide variety of issues that can cause urinary incontinence. This is because it is quite simply a symptom, rather than an issue. Some common causes of urinary incontinence include:
- Infections - Urinary tract infections are a problem and can cause several types of urinary incontinence.
- Diabetes - This is a prime source of urge incontinence as a result of high blood sugar.
- Food and Beverages - There are plenty of different items that can be ingested and spur on the bladder. These include alcohol, coffee, chocolate, chili peppers, citrus fruit, and artificial sweeteners.
- Constipation - The bowels share nerves with the bladder. If a stool becomes very hard, it causes these nerves to become over stimulated. In turn, this causes urinary incontinence.
- Pregnancy - The hormonal changes within the body combine with the altered interior anatomy to commonly cause issues with urinary incontinence.
- Age - Sometimes, an aging bladder muscle quite simply doesn’t function as well as it used to. Capacity is reduced and there are more frequent involuntary contractions.
- Menopause - The hormonal changes of menopause can trigger issues with urinary incontinence.
Treating Urinary Incontinence
The first thing that people suffering from urinary incontinence usually turn to is various products. There are many urinary incontinence products for women especially. Most are designed to absorb any urine that leaks. It pushes it away from the skin and then absorbs or removes odor. This can come in a variety of pads, liners, underwear and underpads. Basic male options tend toward catheters or clamps. These can assist in fully emptying the bladder or they can catch leaks.
Other than products, there are plenty of behavioral techniques that can work. Bladder training extends the time between urination. Double voiding helps people who struggle with overflow issues. Changes to diet and liquid intake can make a big difference. Kegel exercises can give strength to the pelvic floor and assist in dealing with urinary incontinence.
If none of these issues work, then it’s possible medication or other methods will be required. There are interventional therapies which can be undergone. This includes nerve stimulators and bulking injections. These injections place a synthetic tissue around the urethra to try to close it off further.