Managing Urinary Incontinence

Stress can be bad: losing a job, losing a loved one, moving to a new city. Stress can also be good: taking an exciting job in a new town, getting married, graduating from college, or delivering an important speech.

If you have a problem with incontinence, don't let your bladder dampen special occasions. In fact, don't even think about it; instead, take control with one of the many options described below. First educate yourself - the truth will set you free! Second, inform your urologist of your difficulty because he or she is in the best position to help you.

Types of Incontinence

Stress Incontinence: does not mean emotional stress. Any movement that puts pressure on the bladder causes stress incontinence. In females, the pelvic walls that hold the bladder in place become weakened, so the bladder slips toward the vagina, weakening the sphincter. The sphincter is a muscle that holds the bladder closed. Laughing or sneezing can trigger your bladder if there is already a weakness. The pressure of an unborn baby also can cause stress incontinence when the uterus leans into the bladder from the weight of the baby. That pressure causes the bladder to leak or empty completely. In males, stress incontinence is caused when the prostate enlarges, thereby placing pressure on the urethra.

Urge Incontinence: Patients who have urge incontinence usually have a neurogenic (nervous) bladder: Sphincter muscles become overactive, causing leaks or emptying. A neurogenic bladder is caused by anything from nervousness to a stroke, to Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or a spinal cord injury.

Overflow Incontinence: When someone is unable to completely empty the bladder because of a weakened sphincter, the bladder overfills, causing leaks. It's common to have both urge and overflow incontinence.

Functional Incontinence: The physical inability to get to the bathroom on time, either because of limited mobility or mental impairment causes functional incontinence. It is not caused by a dysfunction in the urinary tract.

SOLUTIONS

Some solutions sound scary at first, but keep an open mind - the appropriate one for your situation will become simple to implement. No one has to know about it but you. In fact, online medical supply vendors protect your anonymity by delivering incontinence aids directly to your home. Supplies are usually covered under private insurance or Medicare.

Dryness Aids: Most dryness aids contain a chemical developed by N.A.S.A. for astronauts because they must wear protection during space excursions. The chemical inside protective pads and diapers turns into a solid substance when it gets wet, thereby drawing wetness away from the body. Dryness aids for incontinence contain enough of the chemical to handle big spills. Customers may choose from light absorbency to heavy or overnight strengths. John Glenn, the accomplished astronaut, never suffered any loss of dignity from wearing bladder protection during space travel, so why should anyone else?