Urinary incontinence in women. Causes, treatment, exercises.

Millions of women (one third) unable to fully control their bladder. Most of such trouble lies in wait for women from 30 to 50 years with children. The volume not retained urine varies widely – a few drops when coughing or sneezing, physical exertion to a complete involuntary urination.

Urinary incontinence in women. Reasons:

Pregnancy and childbirth are associated with enormous loads, and some women, the pelvic floor muscles and sphincter of the bladder weakens and no longer fully hold urine.

In addition, inflammation of the urinary tract can cause incontinence. In itself such a condition – not a disease but a signal that something is amiss. There may be 2 types of urinary incontinence: imperative and stressful.

The imperative urinary incontinence – when a person feels an urgent need to empty the bladder and immediately in a few seconds a large amount of urine. It affects both women and men. In men, urinary incontinence is most often associated with prostate enlargement. If early on not to start treatment, soon disturbed sexual function.

Stress incontinence – when a small amount of urine leaks when coughing, sneezing, laughing, physical exertion is characteristic mainly women. In such cases, the woman feels a slight discomfort and can adapt quickly using the pads.

Sometimes women manifest both types of urinary incontinence that causes a lot of discomfort and affects the quality of her life. The woman blushed, not wanting to get out of the house, and if forced to go to work, then it becomes a real challenge for her. And the most powerful emotional trauma is being inflicted on the woman, when urinary incontinence occurs during sex.

Urinary incontinence in older women:

Reasons for involuntary urination in older women and men are: congenital malformation of urinary system, nervous overload, sclerotic changes, and other processes associated with aging. But in women, it occurs 3 times more often than men. There are various factors leading to the development of urinary incontinence in older women:

1. 1. Pregnancy, which proceeded with different pathologies. And also, every pregnancy increases the risk of developing incontinence.
2. 2. Childbirth, which were ruptures of the uterus or bladder.
3. 3. Menopause, the occurrence of which in 60% of cases is the beginning of the development of urinary incontinence.
4. 4. The structure of the urethra often leads to urinary incontinence in older women.

And the older the woman becomes, the higher the risk of her incontinence of urination. But this is not always associated with the aging process. At any age women may develop urinary incontinence due to various health problems.

At the first sign of incontinence urination is necessary to immediately consult a doctor: a urologist, a gynecologist or, at least, to the therapist. Currently using conservative and surgical methods of treatment. For each woman selected an individual treatment plan.

Urinary incontinence in women. The mechanism of development of incontinence:

Urine consists of water and metabolic products. From the kidneys urine flows into the bladder and through the urethra, which is a common hollow tube exits the body. But in order to urine out of the urethra, must relax the muscles. This is a healthy process of urination.

Incontinence, the muscles of the bladder in one case reduced sharply and involuntarily, in the other – on the contrary, can not cope with its function. In severe cases it can cause urine even when you change body position.

Urinary incontinence in women. Treatment:

In the early stages of incontinence applied non-surgical treatments. And if they initiated in a timely manner, it often be successful.

1. First, women need to review and change your lifestyle with this disease, and, whenever possible, as often as possible to go to the toilet so the bladder was always empty.
2. Exacerbate the problem of urinary incontinence alcoholic beverages and caffeine – they need to be excluded from your diet.
3. To observe the drinking regime – not to drink too much fluid. But many women go to extremes – try not to drink. You can’t do it, because will be dehydration. It is sufficient to restrict fluid intake before bedtime and before leaving the house. Discuss drinking with your doctor to avoid dehydration, and there was involuntary urination.
4. Learn to sit correctly. Posture “foot to foot” greatly contributes to the development of urinary incontinence. A huge number of women suffering from this problem, was convinced on own bitter experience.
5. Weight women is of great importance. There is a relationship between weight and incontinence – the more weight, the faster develops this disease often occurs incontinence and excreted more urine. The faster the woman will lower your weight, the less you will feel discomfort. And in some cases it is possible to get rid of incontinence completely.
6. Use the strips. If earlier women incontinence used sanitary pads intended for menstruation, now on sale there are special pads for incontinence. These pads absorb a lot of fluid, they prevent the breeding of bacteria and no odour. But, unfortunately, they only ease the condition and not treated. Although in recent years promoting the so-called “therapeutic” strip from incontinence, but doctors deny this. It’s just advertising.
7. The installation of a vaginal pessary. Incontinence, the doctor often offers the woman a set a vaginal pessary, which intensively supports the pelvic floor, reduces instances of incontinence, or they disappear altogether. To install the vaginal ring needs a doctor! To exercise the muscles of the sphincter, there are so-called vaginal cones of different weights and size.
8. In some cases, the doctor prescribes the woman a special medication to reduce involuntary urination. But the treatment of them effectively only when urgent urinary incontinence. With stress incontinence, they are not effective.
9. Training of the pelvic floor muscles. A significant portion of cases of urinary incontinence, as already mentioned, is due to weakness of the pelvic floor muscles and sphincter (muscle ring) of the bladder. Like any other muscles, they, too, can be strengthened with exercise. So try to train your bladder.

Urinary incontinence in women. Exercise for urinary incontinence:

These exercises commonly known as Kegel exercises. They will help a woman to learn to control the contraction of the bladder and process of urination.
Exercises for the pelvic floor muscles should be done to all women, regardless of whether they have problems with incontinence or not yet, for prevention.

Especially useful these exercises in urinary incontinence in pregnant women, more than half of which complains of frequent urination. One of the reasons – increased pressure on bladder muscles as well as the growing fetus. Another reason is that the hormone relaxin, which is responsible for relaxing the muscles during labor, produced in the body long before birth and, therefore, may reduce the muscle tone of the pelvic floor. To start training it’s never too late.

There are two exercises for urinary incontinence:

1. Relax your abdominal muscles and buttocks. Then strongly tighten your vaginal muscles and hold for a few seconds. All this time, keep the stomach and buttocks have been stretched. Repeat 10 times. Gradually increase the time during which, muscles are in a state of stress.

2. Rhythmic urination. Try pausing urination for 2-3 seconds, then continue. Do it daily 1 time, but not often. Training your bladder, you discipline him each time to keep increasing the amount of urine, and gradually it will become stronger, and the urge to urinate will occur only when it will really be filled.

With regular practice of the first notice results in a week.

If the recommended exercises performed 4 to 6 weeks will not help, you need to contact the doctor who will prescribe the necessary treatment: psychotherapy, electrical stimulation or drugs. If the doctor finds out that the incontinence caused by malposition of the bladder, it can be corrected surgically.

In some women the urinary incontinence is due to chronic cystitis, in this case, emptying of the bladder to hold should not be. There may be painful urination, caused by infection. Be sure to consult a urologist.

With proper assignment of the various means and methods have successfully cured incontinence 90% of patients and have the opportunity to live a full life.