Is your bladder in control of your urine or your urine in control of your bladder?

Overflow Incontinence

Overflow incontinence is the name given to several different types of incontinence occurring at once. It is the inability to control your urine and can take numerous forms. Overflow incontinence happens occurs when you are unable to fully empty your bladder leading to the overflow of urine. Many times the bladder does not even feel full so you are not even aware of the need to urinate. Sometimes the dribbling of urine can occur during the day, and sometimes also at night causing you to wet the bed.

Another problem can be stale urine left in your bladder. If the baldder does not empty completely when you go to the loo it becomes a haven for bacteria resulting in repeated urinary tract infections.

What can cause Overflow Incontinence?

  • Blockages of the urethra – The urethra carries urine from the bladder.  If it becomes obstructed due to pelvic organ prolapse or a blockage this will prevent it emptying properly.
  • Weak bladder muscles – Weak muscles prevent the bladder from being fully emptied because they are unable to squeeze it sufficiently.
  • Damage to the nerves associated with the bladder – Damage can occur through disease such as Diabetes, alcoholism, Parkinson’s disease and multiple Sclerosis.
  • Prescription medications – some anticonvulsants and anti-depressants can affect the nerve signals to the bladder. Diuretic Medications have also been linked to over-flow incontinence.

What can you do about Overflow Incontinence?

  • Medical Help – seek the advice of your Doctor. There are a number of options available including a bladder stress test, catheterization, ultrasound and/or Urodynamic testing.
  • Bladder Training – also known as timed voiding or bladder dril, is a simple solution. By creating a schedule of your toilet visits you’ll be able to get more of an idea about how your bladder works. Timed voiding means that you go to the loo ever two hours or another regular interval if you can’t go that long.  If your bladder signals for you to go before your scheduled time, use Kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor or use relaxation techniques to control the urge until the feeling passes. When you start to recognise these bladder trigger points you’ll be able to go less frequently, with longer and longer intervals inbetween.
  • Pelvic Floor Exercises – Kegels or pelvic floor exercises are essential. Results can take up to 3 months but strengthening your pelvic floor muscles means that your bladder and pelvic organs won’t sag and cause leaks. These exercises are a must if you have a blockage that is caused by either a bladder prolapse or prolapsed urethra.
  • Reduce or modify your diuretics – with your health professional’s supervision you might want to consider lowering or modifying the dose of medication to avoid the unwanted side effects of diuretics.

Take a look at our range of Kegel8 pelvic floor exercisers and specialist products to help you get strong and calm your bladder!

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.