Women's Health
Although Stress Incontinence is a common complaint, many are too embarrassed to seek help.
In the UK alone one in four women over forty suffer from bladder weakness and of those 42% are too embarrassed to talk their doctors about it.
Some facts about Incontinence
People don't want to talk about it
33% wait 1-5 years before seeing a doctor, 25% wait more than 5 years before seeing a doctor and 42% are too embarrassed to discuss it at all and never see a doctor.
Some preventative measures
Pelvic Floor Exercises
In order to prevent bladder weakness pelvic floor exercises can make a difference. These exercises help retrain your bladder to hold on longer when you need to go to the toilet and help reduce the number of urges you have.
Exercise 1
Tighten the muscles around your back passage, vagina and front passage and lift up and squeeze inside as if trying to stop passing wind and urine at the same time. You need to concentrate on using the correct muscles, so don't squeeze your legs together or tighten your buttocks. However, many people find they tighten their lower stomach muscles at the same time, so if you hollow your lower stomach at the same time, that is OK - the muscles are helping one another. It is most important not to hold your breath: just breathe normally. Try holding them as long and as strong as you can. Rest for 4 seconds and then repeat the contraction as many times as you can up to a maximum of 10 contractions. Gradually increase the time that you can hold each contraction, aiming for 10 second holds. Try doing these exercises in a slow and controlled way with a rest of 4 seconds between each muscle contraction. Practise your maximum number of held contractions (up to 10) about three or four times each day.
Exercise 2
Is basically the same as Exercise 1, however you do quick contractions to help them react to sudden stresses from coughing or laughing, etc instead of holding the contractions.
Aim to do one set of slow contractions (exercise 1) followed by one set of quick contractions (exercise 2) three or four times each day.
You could also, as an aid to your exercises, use Vaginal Cones. These are small weights which can be used by women to help with their pelvic floor exercises. The idea is to place an appropriate weight cone in the vagina and use the pelvic floor muscles to hold it there. By using it for 15-20 minutes at a time while walking around at home you will give your pelvic floor muscles some good exercise.
If you have bladder weakness
Pads and Pants: there is a wide range of different pads and pants available for the varying types of bladder weakness. Whilst these will not improve the condition, they allow people experiencing bladder weakness to gain some control over their bladder weakness and to carry on with their lives:
Making an appointment to see a specialist Continence Advisor.
Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Caffeine and alcohol can irritate the bladder so limit their intake. Constipation can also contribute to bladder control problems, so eat healthy, high fibre foods to help stay regular.
Other treatments
Electrical stimulation
This can help some people to strengthen the pelvic floor and reduce the sensitivity of an overactive bladder. It involves using a small battery-powered unit which applies an electric current to the muscles around the bladder. Most individuals describe it as a tingling feeling rather like pins and needles, sometimes with a involuntary tightening of the pelvic floor muscles. It will not be painful. People are usually advised to use the unit for between 20 minutes and an hour a day for somewhere between a few weeks and several months.
Medication
If you go to your local GP there are many drugs available for them to prescribe, such as Yentreve or Propiverine, which help reduce the urgency to go to the toilet during the day and at night. In Dr Chris's experience this is very much a trial and error basis with the tablets, some work better on some than others.
Surgery
In some extreme cases you can go to hospital and have surgery.There are a number of well-established operations in use to cure stress incontinence. The best known and most often used technique is called the Burch Colposuspension and it produces the highest rates of long-term success - up to 85-90% success at five years after the operation. Like most of the established operations, it involves (in simple terms) creating a hammock around the urethra. the hammock attaches to the back of the pubic bone being stitched to suitable strong fibrous tissues. This article was published on Wed 22 November 2006
Image © Vladislav Gansovsky - Fotolia.com
All about Stress Incontinence
Although Stress Incontinence is a common complaint, many are too embarrassed to seek help.
In the UK alone one in four women over forty suffer from bladder weakness and of those 42% are too embarrassed to talk their doctors about it.
Some facts about Incontinence
- 3-5 million people in the UK have bladder weakness
- 1 in 4 women in the UK over 40 experience bladder weakness
- Bladder weakness is a common side effect of childbirth
- Ratio of females to male with bladder weakness = 2:1
- 42% of people with bladder weakness are too embarrassed to talk about it at all and never see a doctor
People don't want to talk about it
33% wait 1-5 years before seeing a doctor, 25% wait more than 5 years before seeing a doctor and 42% are too embarrassed to discuss it at all and never see a doctor.
Some preventative measures
Pelvic Floor Exercises
In order to prevent bladder weakness pelvic floor exercises can make a difference. These exercises help retrain your bladder to hold on longer when you need to go to the toilet and help reduce the number of urges you have.
Exercise 1
Tighten the muscles around your back passage, vagina and front passage and lift up and squeeze inside as if trying to stop passing wind and urine at the same time. You need to concentrate on using the correct muscles, so don't squeeze your legs together or tighten your buttocks. However, many people find they tighten their lower stomach muscles at the same time, so if you hollow your lower stomach at the same time, that is OK - the muscles are helping one another. It is most important not to hold your breath: just breathe normally. Try holding them as long and as strong as you can. Rest for 4 seconds and then repeat the contraction as many times as you can up to a maximum of 10 contractions. Gradually increase the time that you can hold each contraction, aiming for 10 second holds. Try doing these exercises in a slow and controlled way with a rest of 4 seconds between each muscle contraction. Practise your maximum number of held contractions (up to 10) about three or four times each day.
Exercise 2
Is basically the same as Exercise 1, however you do quick contractions to help them react to sudden stresses from coughing or laughing, etc instead of holding the contractions.
Aim to do one set of slow contractions (exercise 1) followed by one set of quick contractions (exercise 2) three or four times each day.
You could also, as an aid to your exercises, use Vaginal Cones. These are small weights which can be used by women to help with their pelvic floor exercises. The idea is to place an appropriate weight cone in the vagina and use the pelvic floor muscles to hold it there. By using it for 15-20 minutes at a time while walking around at home you will give your pelvic floor muscles some good exercise.
If you have bladder weakness
Pads and Pants: there is a wide range of different pads and pants available for the varying types of bladder weakness. Whilst these will not improve the condition, they allow people experiencing bladder weakness to gain some control over their bladder weakness and to carry on with their lives:
Making an appointment to see a specialist Continence Advisor.
Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Caffeine and alcohol can irritate the bladder so limit their intake. Constipation can also contribute to bladder control problems, so eat healthy, high fibre foods to help stay regular.
Other treatments
Electrical stimulation
This can help some people to strengthen the pelvic floor and reduce the sensitivity of an overactive bladder. It involves using a small battery-powered unit which applies an electric current to the muscles around the bladder. Most individuals describe it as a tingling feeling rather like pins and needles, sometimes with a involuntary tightening of the pelvic floor muscles. It will not be painful. People are usually advised to use the unit for between 20 minutes and an hour a day for somewhere between a few weeks and several months.
Medication
If you go to your local GP there are many drugs available for them to prescribe, such as Yentreve or Propiverine, which help reduce the urgency to go to the toilet during the day and at night. In Dr Chris's experience this is very much a trial and error basis with the tablets, some work better on some than others.
Surgery
In some extreme cases you can go to hospital and have surgery.There are a number of well-established operations in use to cure stress incontinence. The best known and most often used technique is called the Burch Colposuspension and it produces the highest rates of long-term success - up to 85-90% success at five years after the operation. Like most of the established operations, it involves (in simple terms) creating a hammock around the urethra. the hammock attaches to the back of the pubic bone being stitched to suitable strong fibrous tissues. This article was published on Wed 22 November 2006
Image © Vladislav Gansovsky - Fotolia.com
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