Seven Tips For Managing Stress Incontinence
Stress incontinence, or the involuntary release of urine during physical activities, is one of the most common yet least discussed age-related health problems. But understanding and coming to terms with the condition is a crucial factor in learning to manage it. Here are five things you can do today:
1. Understand what's happening and why. Here are the basics: Stress or pressure incontinence effects both men and women, but is most often seen in women who are middle-aged or older. It's caused by weakening of the muscles in the pelvic floor, which lose the ability to contract sufficiently whenever an activity puts pressure on the abdomen. Everyday activities like laughing, sneezing, lifting, running, jumping, doing exercise or even rising from a chair can create enough abdominal pressure to trigger the release of small amounts of urine.
The most common cause of pelvic muscle weakening for both men and women is simple aging - as we get older, our muscles tend to lose strength and tone. However multiple pregnancies and vaginal births significantly increase the risk for this type of incontinence in women, while in men it is often the result of prostate surgery. Obesity and smoking increase the risk for both men and women.
2. Cut back or eliminate foods and beverages that can irritate the bladder. Alcohol and caffeine are classic bladder irritants that can overstimulate the bladder and made it much more difficult to control urine release. Spicy foods, citrus fruits, and carbonated beverages like soda can also be bladder irritants, and cutting them out of your diet can make a surprising difference.
3. Stop smoking. Refraining from the use of tobacco not only eliminates a source of bladder irritation, it generally cuts back on coughing.
4. Lose weight. Carrying excess body fat dramatically increases the risk for stress incontinence in both men and women, and recent clinical studies indicate that losing even a small amount of weight can significantly diminish this type of incontinence in overweight women.
5. Stay regular. Constipation puts extra pressure on the abdominal muscles and can make stress or pressure incontinence worse. Include plenty of fiber in your diet and avoid eating large amounts of cheese, meat, ice cream, chips and other greasy snacks, and highly processed foods, all of which are known to contribute to constipation.
6. Drink lots of water. Staying well hydrated is important for good health, so don't cut back on water - research has shown that it can actually help with incontinence management by reducing bladder irritation.
7. Make frequent trips to the bathroom. If you suffer from stress incontinence, allowing your bladder to become too full is an invitation to disaster. Visit the bathroom at least every hour or so; this will not only decrease the pressure on the pelvic muscles, it will minimize the amount of wetness you experience if there are "leaks".
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Stress Incontinence is the termed used for uncontrolled loss of urine in men usually after surgery on the prostate gland. After radical prostatectomy (laparoscopic or retropubic), the male continence mechanism and the controlling nerves are structurally damaged. You may have heard of Kegel exercises. These exercises strengthen the pelvic floor muscles that hold the urine in your bladder until you are ready to release it.
This article highlights the fact that surgery for urinary stress incontinence may make the problem worse in the long term. This article was written to raise awareness of this and to introduce readers to an effective solution to the problem of urinary stress incontinence that has no harmful side effects or consequences and was proven to be more successful than surgery over fifty years ago.
Incontinence can be embarrassing and tough to discuss, but if you are facing this problem you are not alone. According to the National Association for Incontinence (NAFC), urinary incontinence (UI) affects 200 million people worldwide1 with 25 million adult Americans experiencing temporary or chronic UI.
As a general rule, most people believe incontinence is a natural part of the aging process. It's not surprising then, that when young women suffer from female stress incontinence they are more overly concerned than the older female population. The fact of the matter is however, that incontinence is not a natural part of aging and that it can affect men and women of any age. Young women often experience stress incontinence as a by product of child bearing.
Stress continence is defined as being an involuntary loss of urine that occurs during physical activity, coughing, sneezing, or laughing.
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