Symptoms Of Urinary Incontinence
Having urinary incontinence means you pass urine unintentionally.
When and how this happens varies depending on the type of urinary incontinence you have.
Although you may feel embarrassed about seeking help, it’s a good idea to see your GP if you have any type of urinary incontinence.
Urinary incontinence is a common problem and seeing your GP can be the first step towards finding a way to effectively manage the problem.
Control Bladder Leaks When Coughing With Innovo
The number one way to control your bladder leaks when coughing is to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Choosing to strengthen your pelvic floor can be time-consuming, and using internal devices can be dangerous. INNOVO helps you to do your pelvic floor exercises perfectly by doing them for you . In fact, theyre so effective that research shows that 87% of INNOVO users were defined as dry, or almost dry, after 12 weeks .
What Treatment Options Are Available If Urinary Incontinence Still Won’t Go Away
Seeing a urogynecologist as early as possible can help ensure that you have a complete understanding of your condition and treatments options.
“Both stress and urgency incontinence typically respond well to behavioral modifications, but if things are not improving, it’s best to get evaluated,” says Dr. Lindo. “This is why I always recommend seeing a specialist about your condition right away. You never want to play the guessing game with your health, especially when your condition affects your quality of life.”
In addition, your doctor can recommend a pelvic floor physical therapy program. While Kegels can play an important role in alleviating urinary incontinence, Dr. Lindo says they’re performed incorrectly more than 80 percent of the time.
“An incorrect Kegel will not help correct urinary incontinence,” warns Dr. Lindo. “Seeing a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floor exercises can help ensure you’re performing Kegels and other exercises correctly and truly strengthening your pelvic floor.”
And if your condition continues to progress or worsen, your urogynecologist has expertise to perform testing and recommend a range of urinary incontinence treatment options and procedures that can help to correct your condition and address your specific situation.
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Demographics And Clinical Characteristics
A total of 730 adult female patients were recruited from January 2006 to December 2018. Among whom, 30 cases were excluded, including 21 cases who did not fill in the presence or absence of UI, 6 cases who did not fill in their age, and 3 cases with a cough duration less than 8 weeks. The remaining 700 patients with a mean age of 45.9 years old and a median cough duration of 24 months were finally enrolled into the analysis. Among these 700 patients, 351 patients had reported UI . The flow chart was shown in Fig. .
Fig. 1
The mean age and the median cough duration of patients with UI were significantly higher than that of patients without UI vs. 18, p< 0.01 respectively). The patients with UI showed higher daytime CSS, night-time CSS, cough VAS score and lower proportion of single cough as compared with patients without UI . In addition, patients with UI were more likely to be sensitive to dust, cooking fume, cold air, supine position, cigarette smoke, exercise as cough triggers and had significantly higher proportion of chest tightness, upper abdominal pain, chronic sinusitis and hypertension than those without UI .
Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristicsFig. 2Table 2 Relationship between urinary incontinence and age or BMI of different grades
Will Urinary Incontinence Go Away On Its Own
There’s no doubt that urinary incontinence affects your quality of life. Leakages can not only irritate your skin and cause embarrassment, but constantly worrying about when one might happen next can keep you from living your life. So much so that you might plan everything you do around whether there’s a bathroom nearby.
It’s a very common problem affecting up to one in three women. If you’re experiencing urinary incontinence, you’re likely looking for answers. Specifically, what can you do to stop it?
“Urinary incontinence is a loss of urine when you’re not actively trying to urinate,” explains Dr. Fiona Lindo, urogynecologist at Houston Methodist. “It can happen without you being aware or with physical exertion, such as exercise or even when simply standing up, coughing or laughing.”
“Unfortunately, urinary incontinence isn’t likely to go away on its own. The good news, however, is that there are things that you can do on your own to improve it, and there are plenty of options for treating it,” adds Dr. Lindo.
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What Causes Bladder Leaks
There are two main types of urinary incontinence:
Stress incontinence
If you have this type, activities that raise the pressure inside your abdomen cause urine to leak through the ring of muscle in your bladder that normally holds it in. Coughing, sneezing, jumping and lifting heavy objects could lead to a leak.
Going through childbirth, smoking or being overweight can raise the risk of stress incontinence for women, Wright says. Stress incontinence in men is rare, and when it arises, its often due to prostate cancer treatment, such as radiation or surgery.
Urge incontinence
With this type, your brain, spinal cord and bladder dont work together properly to allow you to hold and release urine at the right time. Your bladder may suddenly empty itself without warning. Or you may feel like you need to urinate frequently, a problem called overactive bladder.
Some diseases that affect the nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis or stroke, can cause this kind of incontinence, says Wright. In men, an enlarged prostate may be the culprit. But in many cases, doctors dont know what causes urge incontinence.
It is possible to have both types of incontinence at the same time.
Why Does This Happen
Urine leakage that is caused by a sudden increase in abdominal pressure, such as occurs with a cough or strenuous exercise, is called stress urinary incontinence. Normally urine only leaves the body when you are purposefully emptying your bladder. With stress urinary incontinence, urine leaves the bladder unexpectedly at the time of a cough, sneeze, laugh, jump, etc. This happens because the strength of the bladder outlet the urethra, is weaker and no longer is able to keep the outlet closed during the increase in pressure on the bladder. This is not normal and it indicates a weakness of the door. This weakness can progress over time, making the leakage more and more common.
Weakening of the urethra can be caused by loss of strength of the supporting muscles known as the pelvic floor muscles. These are the same ones that you squeeze when trying to keep urine from passing. Another cause of weakness of the bladder door is a loss of strength of the connective tissue which supports the urethra and lower bladder. This connective tissue acts like a strong hammock that keeps the urethra and bladder in the best position. When the pelvic floor muscles become weak or the hammock support loses its strength, stress leakage can occur.
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What Is Stress Incontinence
Stress urinary incontinence means involuntary urine leakage that happens with an increase in intra-abdominal pressure. This pressure can happen because of the pelvic floor or urethral sphincter weakness.
Based on statistics, SUI affects roughly 4% to 35% of adult women. In men, the incontinence prevalence is much lower. It is about 3% to 11% overall, with urge incontinence accounting for 40% to 80% of all male cases. And stress incontinence accounts for less than 10%.
Stress incontinence is not connected to psychological stress. It happens due to an activity or physical movement. For example, coughing, sneezing, effort, or exertion.
So, when you experience incontinence with coughing, you add pressure to the bladder. And this causes it to leak urine.
What Causes Urinary Incontinence
The causes of urinary incontinence depend on the type.
Stress incontinence is usually the result of the weakening or damaging of the muscles used to prevent urination, such as the pelvic floor muscles and the urethral sphincter.
Urge incontinence is usually the result of overactivity of the detrusor muscle, which controls the bladder.
Certain things can increase the chances of urinary incontinence developing, including:
- pregnancy and vaginal birth
- a family history of incontinence
- increasing age although incontinence is not an inevitable part of ageing
Read more about the causes of urinary incontinence
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What Are The Symptoms Of Bladder Control Problems
Signs and symptoms of urinary incontinence can include
- leaking urine during everyday activities, such as lifting, bending, coughing, or exercising
- being unable to hold in urine after feeling a sudden, strong urge to urinate
- leaking urine without any warning or urge
- being unable to reach a toilet in time
- wetting your bed during sleep
- leaking during sexual activity
Try Pelvic Floor Therapy
Pelvic floor therapy is a type of specialized physical therapy that strengthens the muscles that support your bladder and bowels. This can be very effective in treating urinary incontinence caused by an overactive bladder.
During pelvic floor therapy, a physical therapist may lead you through exercises that target your pelvic floor, use mild electrical stimulation to help you have more awareness of your pelvic floor muscles, and use other specialized techniques. If youre interested in pelvic floor therapy, talk with a doctor about getting a referral.
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What Could Be Causing Leaks
Short-term leaks could be caused by a urinary tract infection, certain medications, or even constipation. If youve found this happening regularly over time, then you might have something called stress incontinence. This might sound a little scary, but its the official term for the leaks of urine after coughing, sneezing, laughing, or even lifting something heavy.
How To Help Relive Coughing From A Cold Or Flu: Tips For Relief
We know how annoying a constant cough can beâit can keep you up at night, make you light-headed, and even cause the loss of bladder control. So, how can you stop constant coughing? The key is suppressing your cough. Read on for some great information on how to stop constant coughing, so you can get back to your life!
If you have a mild to moderate UTI, you can try the following steps at home:
Bottom Line
The first line of treatment for UTIs at home focuses on drinking plenty of fluids and increasing vitamin C intake.
This will help flush the bacteria through your urinary tract and decreases inflammation of the bladder.
Cranberry helps prevent bacteria from sticking to the walls of the urinary tract, which prevents them from multiplying.
Probiotics are also another way to prevent UTIs because they help kill E. coli by competing for nutrients and attachment sites on the bladder wall.
Clove oil is an anti-inflammatory that may be effective to help fight off pain, pressure, burning, and frequent urination associated with a UTI. There are many natural remedies you can try to prevent UTIs.
If symptoms continue for more than a few days, seek medical attention immediately.
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Ask Your Doctor About A Pessary
If these methods dont work for you, there is another option on the table for most women: a pessary. Pessaries are medical devices that are inserted into the vaginal canal to help support the structure of pelvic organs, tissues, and muscles. It provides extra support to the bladder and sphincters to keep them in the correct position and reduce the chance of stress incontinence.
My Virtual Physician has partnered with Uresta to provide a fitting-free pessary option to our patients who want to manage their stress urinary incontinence. If youve got a leaky bladder and want to explore your options, set up an appointment with our doctors today so that we can get you back to feeling yourself again.
What Are Stress Incontinence Symptoms
Leaking urine when theres pressure on your bladder is the top sign of stress incontinence. Mild stress incontinence may cause you to leak drops of urine during activities like heavy exercise, laughing, coughing or sneezing.
With moderate to severe stress incontinence, you may leak more than a tablespoon of urine even during less strenuous activities like standing up or bending over. You may even leak urine while having sex.
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Why Do I Leak Urine When Coughing
The reason why a person leaks urine involuntarily is because the pelvic muscles and tissues which support the bladder and control the urinary sphincter become weak. This results in the muscles and tissues no longer being able to support the bladder the way they should and thus the urine starts leaking. These muscles are called as pelvic floor muscles.
There can be numerous reasons as to why these muscles become damaged or weak but the causes are typically different from that of females than they are for males. For females pregnancy and childbirth are the most common cause of damage to the pelvic floor muscles resulting in stress incontinence. For males, it is a surgical procedure on the prostate gland that is the most common cause.
There are also certain risk factors for stress incontinence that include gender. Being a female is one of the biggest risk factor for a condition like leaking urine when coughing. A study done on stress incontinence mentions that around 12% of females between the age bracket of 20 and 45 and around 22% of females in the age bracket of 45 and 60 are at risk for stress incontinence. The increased risk in females is primarily due to pregnancy and childbirth. Females who have delivered children are 8 times more likely to develop stress incontinence than other females. The increased risk is also for females who have delivered their babies vaginally.
What Are The Complications Of Stress Incontinence
Severe stress incontinence can be embarrassing and may make you feel anxious or depressed. Adult diapers and absorbent urinary pads can catch urine leaks, but you may become self-conscious about an odor or worry that people can notice that youre wearing them. You may not want to go out in public or be far from a restroom. Continuous urine on your skin can irritate it, leading to skin rashes and sores.
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Reduce Your Fluid Intake
Drinking water is good for your body, and its important to stay hydrated, but overdoing fluid intake can lead to bladder urgency and leaks. The key to healthy fluid intake is maintaining a good balance. Try to drink water when thirsty, but not more of it than your body asks for. And keep an eye on the color of your urine. If its clear, you could probably cut back on fluid intake, but dark urine is a sign that you need more fluids.
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Treatment To Stop Leaking Urine On Coughing
Stress Incontinence of any type including leaking urine when coughing is quite common and there are quite a few treatments available for this condition including lifestyle modifications, devices, and even surgery.
Lifestyle Modifications: People with stress incontinence are advised to eat a balanced diet and if they are overweight to lose weight in healthful manner. Nicotine is a big no-no for people with stress incontinence as it makes the condition worse. It is important for people with this condition to time their intake of fluids and measure how much they drink to prevent any untoward incidences in public places.
Physical Therapy: Doing exercises to strengthen the pelvic muscles are quite effective in preventing episodes of leaking urine when coughing. The most prominent exercise advised by therapists for stress incontinence is the Kegel exercise. This exercise is quite easy to do and can be done independently or under the supervision of a therapist.
The Kegel exercise involves use of the pelvic muscles and holding them so that they become strong enough to hold urine. This should be done as often as possible for best results.
Bladder Training: This is also quite an effective way to treat stress incontinence. This involves setting a time and voiding at regular intervals. This helps the bladder to release urine only when sitting on the toilet.
Why Am I Leaking Urine All Of A Sudden What Causes Female Urinary Incontinence Can Uti Cause Urine Leakage
Sudden onset of incontinence, or urine leakage, should always warrant a trip to the doctor. There are several different causes of urine leakage and itâs important to identify prior to any treatment being initiated. The more common types of incontinence in women are stress urinary incontinence and urgency urinary incontinence.
Stress urinary incontinence is caused by a weakness in the sphincter muscle of the urethra , a highly mobile urethra, or both. A highly mobile urethra is seen when the pelvic floor tissues are weak and relaxed. Women will experience leakage of urine with activity, such as coughing, laughing, sneezing, and exercising. The most common risk factor for stress urinary incontinence is having a history of a vaginal childbirth, but it can occur in anyone due to other factors such as muscle strength and activity level. For example, women who do very heavy weightlifting may experience stress urinary incontinence while lifting heavy weights, but if they never did such activities, they might not experience incontinence.
Many people have mixed incontinence, with symptoms of both stress urinary incontinence and urgency urinary incontinence causing urine leakage. In this situation the urologist would typically address the type of incontinence that is most impacting your quality of life first, as the treatments are quite different.
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