ITQ 2

Urinary Incontinence (UI) is defined as ‘inconvenient leakage of urine causing social or hygiene problems’. Too right it’s inconvenient - as well as embarrassing and distressing. It’s a common condition and it’s your body telling you that all is not well. For many women, simple Kegel exercises can really help restore control within weeks!

Each year over 600,000 people are diagnosed with a neurological condition. A neurological disorder can prevent you from participating in daily activities for a short period of time, or leave you completely disabled and in need of assistance 24/7. Neurological conditions can also severely impact the development of pelvic floor disorders. Read on to learn more.

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What is a Neurological Disorder?

Neurological disorders are diseases of the brain, spine, and the nerves that connect them. They can develop suddenly, or gradually over your lifetime. There are over 10 million people in the UK who live with a neurological condition which has a significant impact on their lives.

Approximately 350,000 people who suffer from neurological conditions need help for most of their daily activities, and over one million people are disabled by their condition.

Neurological conditions can affect people of all ages and at any time. There is an increased prevalence of neurological...

If you, or a dependent, suffer from any form of incontinence, seek treatment as soon as possible. Speak to your GP to determine the origin of the incontinence and the best programme of treatment.

Whilst undergoing treatment for incontinence, there are many techniques and products available to improve your quality of life. Some of which are available on prescription.

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Lifestyle Changes to Help You Live with Incontinence

These lifestyle changes aim to make you more resilient to episodes of incontinence:

• The 'Quick Flick' technique (for urinary incontinence) - When you feel the urge to urinate, the 'Quick Flick' technique can be applied. Contract the pelvic floor muscles quickly 3-5 times, taking slow deep breaths whilst you do so. This should reduce the need to urinate so you can hold off...

There are many different treatments available for those suffering from bladder and/or bowel incontinence. Grouped here into conservative therapies, non-surgical medical treatments and surgical treatments.

Working with your GP you can agree a programme of several treatments, to give you a lasting solution. The treatment programme will aim to resolve the issues that are bothering you most first. For example, if you are struggling to get enough sleep as your bladder is waking you up multiple times a night (Nocturia), you may wish to treat that first before concentrating on an issue you may have with leaking when you laugh (giggle incontinence). The programme will aim to improve your quality of life by reducing the impact of your symptoms. Alongside resolving the original cause of the incontinence to reduce the risk of it recurring and repairing any damage that has been...

There are many things which can make you vulnerable to developing incontinence. It usually develops gradually, as a result of multiple factors such as weight, smoking, and chronic constipation. You can reduce the impact of these on the function of your bladder and bowel by changing your lifestyle to cut the risk out.

Some events cause incontinence suddenly or are unavoidable. These include: suffering a spinal injury, ageing, giving birth, having a genetic predisposition or disease which leaves you vulnerable. Although you cannot avoid these causes, you can become more resilient to the impact of these events, and be in a better position to recover (where possible).

Read more about the Causes and Diagnosis of incontinence.

Its important to recognise the early warning signs of incontinence developing. So you can protect yourself and those you care for, and seek treatment as soon as possible...

Double incontinence (combined incontinence) is when you suffer from, one or more forms of, both bowel and bladder incontinence. Often you will suffer from urinary incontinence first, and if you do not seek treatment soon enough, faecal incontinence will follow. Both forms of incontinence occur as a result of weak and/or damaged pelvic floor muscles, related ligaments and nerves. This often also results in a pelvic organ prolapse occurring alongside the double incontinence.

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Double incontinence is considered to be the most debilitating and isolating consequence of pelvic floor dysfunction. It is thought that at least 9.4% of the population suffer from double incontinence, the majority of which...

When diagnosing the type of bladder or bowel dysfunction you are suffering from, your GP will need to consider all aspects of the complex interactions and coordination's that happen for healthy urination and defecation.

Your GP will look to identify the original cause(s) of the incontinence. They will treat the reversible causes first; such as a change in medication or treatment for diarrhoea. If the causes are not reversible, your incontinence will be considered chronic and is more likely to be treated medically alongside conservative lifestyle changes to treat the incontinence and prevent recurrence.

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How to Diagnose Incontinence

To diagnose the type of incontinence, it's severity, your symptoms and the cause(s), there are a few tests your doctor may do with you. The following are in no particular order:

• Define incontinence - To ensure you are open and can share relevant information, your GP will define incontinence and the...

Urinary and bowel incontinence and weakness is rarely life threatening. However, it will have a hugely negative impact on the sufferers quality of life; often leading to depression, anxiety and social isolation. It can also significantly affect the lives of those around them.

There are many treatments available for incontinence, however only 60% of suffers seek treatment, and 50% of those continue to suffer from incontinence as a result of not wanting to return to their GP for further support when initial treatments fail. There are many conservative and non-surgical medical options, to help treat the symptoms and the cause of the incontinence, before looking to a surgical solution. There are also a number of things that can be done to make it easier to live with incontinence, whilst the sufferer undergo treatment.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence defines urge (aka urgency) urinary incontinence as "involuntary urine leakage accompanied or immediately preceded by urgency (a sudden compelling desire to urinate that is difficult to delay)". If you suffer, you will likely not be able to make it to a toilet without leaking a small amount of urine. Your urge to urinate may be triggered by certain things; such as standing after sitting for a long time, or arriving home (latch key urgency).

Urge incontinence is one of the most common forms of incontinence. A third of adults who suffer from urinary incontinence suffer from both urge and stress incontinence together - it is then called mixed incontinence. The group most vulnerable to developing urge incontinence are men older than 75 years old, with reports suggesting 42% of this group suffer...

As defined by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, stress incontinence is "involuntary urine leakage on effort or exertion or on sneezing or coughing". It is sometimes referred to as exercise induced urine leakage, as it often happens when you exercise. There are certain high impact exercises, such as running, that are more likely to cause you to leak.

Stress incontinence is the most openly talked about form of incontinence, it is extremely common, effecting 200 million men and women worldwide. As many as 45% of women are reported to suffer from stress incontinence, with the true figure predicted to be much higher. Women are more likely to develop it after pregnancy and childbirth, and studies suggest your vulnerability increases considerably when you are over 30 years old, however, even young girls and men of all ages can...

Overflow incontinence is when you are unable to fully empty your bladder, leaving you with a feeling of a full bladder even after you use the toilet. As your bladder is never fully empty, you more frequently 'top it up' and need to urinate. When you do urinate, your stream is weak and slow and may continue to dribble for a while after you feel finished. Sometimes you will not feel the sensation of your bladder being full, meaning you often leak and can even wet the bed at night.

Men are more likely to suffer from overflow incontinence than women, with the most common causes relating to prostate problems.

If you postpone treatment for your overflow incontinence, you can suffer from kidney damage (resulting in more urine being produced), bladder stones (created from the chemicals in your urine), and recurring urinary tract infections (if your bladder is consistently full of urine, you are at risk of bacteria causing recurring urinary tract infections.) ...

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An overactive bladder (OAB) is the sensation to urgently need to empty your bladder, and often occurs with urge and frequency incontinence, and nocturia. An OAB does not always lead to incontinence however, and in this circumstance it is known as OAB dry rather than OAB wet. OAB dry is diagnosed where you have the frequent urge to empty your bladder, but have the control to make it to a bathroom before leaking.

Suffering from an OAB always has a negative effect on quality of life, with 10-20% of adult men and women suffering and older individuals suffering from more extreme symptoms.

There are many treatments available to improve the health of the bladder and, as a result, the quality of life of those suffering. Therefore its important that you do not consider...