When you've got to go you’ve GOT TO GO!

Overactive Bladder or OAB is marked by the near constant urge to urinate, which can lead to urinary incontinence or leakage. OAB is also known as Overactive Bladder Syndrome or Idiopathic Urge Incontinence. However we refer to it, this condition can be identifyable by the following incontinence symptoms:

Dr. J Berman

  • Urgency – a sudden and unexpected need to pass urine.
  • Urge Incontinence – you just don’t make it in time and you may leak a little or a lot.
  • Frequency – needing to go to the toilet too often. A daily average should be about eight times.
  • Nocturia – waking up more than once to go to the toilet during the night.

OAB or urinary incontinence can cause physical symptoms as well as fear, anxiety, and even shame around sex and intimacy.

What causes an overactive bladder?

  • Some medications – Diuretics or ‘water tablets’ for example.
  • Caffeine – everything from coffee to cola to caffeine in pain killers.
  • Alcohol – may make OAB symptoms worse.
  • Medical conditions – Diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, uterine fibroids and spinal cord injury.

What can you do about it?

Overactive bladder has been called the closet disorder as most people with this condition just live with it despite the fact that there are successful treatments.

  • Kegels – Kegel exercises or pelvic floor exercises will help strengthen the kegel muscles in your pelvic floor giving you greater control.
  • Bladder Retraining – Putting your loo visits on a schedule can help you gain more understanding and control over your bladder. In bladder retraining, you go to the loo only at regular intervals - say, every two hours. If you have to go before your scheduled time, use Kegel exercises or relaxation techniques to hold it in until the urge passes. Over time, you will be able to train yourself to go less frequently, with longer intervals between visits.
  • Vaginal Pessary – A pessary device inserted into the vagina presses against the bladder neck and urethra so you have less leakage.
  • Prescription Medications – Some drugs can treat incontinence related to an overactive bladder. Anticholinergics can help to control bladder contractions. A tricyclic antidepressant may sometimes be prescribed to help relax the bladder muscle. Side effects from these drugs can include dry mouth, fatigue, blurred vision and constipation. Some people may not be able to take these medications, however.
  • Surgery – Procedures may include sacral nerve stimulation, augmentation cystoplasty and urinary diversion.
  • Bulking Agents – Injections of collagen and other bulking substances can thicken the tissues around the bladder neck to narrow its opening.
  • Botulinum Toxin A Injections – This treatment involves injecting botulinum toxin A into the sides of your bladder. It dampens down the abnormal contractions of the bladder but it may also damp down the normal contractions meaning your bladder can’t empty properly. This would then require catheterisation.

Incontinence or bladder weakness is usually a sign you need to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and this is where Kegel8 can help. Take a look at our range of Kegel8 electronic pelvic toner machines and specialist pelvic floor exercisers to help you regain control of your bladder without the need for medications or surgery.

 

Alleviate the symptoms of bladder weakness & strengthen the pelvic floor in just 12 weeks, with the help of the Kegel8 Ultra 20 & Amanda Savage!

Amanda Savage is one of the UK’s leading specialist pelvic floor and women’s health physiotherapists, who has worked in the field for over 20 years offering supervised pelvic floor muscle training and support for the recovery of pelvic organ prolapses, incontinence and pelvic surgeries. With post-graduate qualifications, including a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, she has also gained full membership of the Professional Network of Pelvic, Obstetric & Gynaecological Physiotherapy (POGP). As a Kegel8 ambassador, Amanda Savage has worked alongside us for many years in the development of our best-selling device, the Kegel8 Ultra 20 V2 Electronic Pelvic Toner, to ensure its efficacy. In addition, she has been integral to ensuring all supporting information and instructions are medically accurate so that the device is used correctly/effectively, and treatment is tailored to the specific condition of the user.

Find out more about Amanda Savage, her qualifications, experience, knowledge, and affiliations here.

Amanda Savage

Comes complete with an easy exercise plan, created by Amanda Savage, to get results in just 12 weeks!

If ‘laughter leaks’ are making you want to cry, you are by no means alone! Indeed, more common that you may realise, bladder weakness and stress incontinence affect millions of people worldwide. And, here at Kegel8, we are all too familiar with the impact it has on both physical and emotional well-being, as well as on life in general. It’s true that, left untreated, symptoms of bladder weakness will simply worsen over time. However, it should by no means be accepted as an inevitability! Indeed, regular pelvic floor exercise, much like any other type of exercise, will strengthen the muscles over time, enabling them to perform their role much more effectively and offer the right amount of support to the bladder to ensure there are no leakages. In addition, it can calm ‘overactive’ nerves for those experiencing ‘jumpy’ or ‘irritable’ sensations in their bladder. That means you can get back to doing all the things you love!

The included 12-week exercise plan has been specifically developed by Amanda Savage to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and enable them to provide optimum support to the neck of the bladder, thus preventing any leakages. In addition, it will calm the ‘overactive’ nerves that are responsible for ‘jumpy’ or ‘irritable’ sensations in the bladder, thereby reducing bladder sensitivity. In addition, it prepares the user for ‘real life’ scenarios where they don’t have access to the machine.

So, why opt for an electronic pelvic floor exerciser rather than performing your Kegels independently?

It is thought that many women push downwards when performing independent pelvic floor exercises, which, rather than strengthening the muscles, can lead to further damage. In addition, it can be difficult to locate and target the correct muscles, making exercise less effective. As such, many women opt to use an electronic pelvic floor toner to ensure effective exercise and optimum results. The Kegel8 Ultra 20 V2 Electronic Pelvic Toner removes the guesswork and essentially acts as a Sat-Nav for your pelvic floor muscles, correctly targeting and stimulating a contraction within them using a small electric current. These contractions build strength and tone in a matter of weeks! With 20 clinically proven pelvic floor exercise programmes which vary in frequency, intensity and duration, the Ultra 20 is proven to treat a variety of different conditions, including bladder weakness and stress incontinence. And, in addition to tailored programmes, the specific 12-week exercise plans created by Amanda Savage advise exactly how the device should be used, depending upon the condition, to ensure the very best treatment.