Incontinence

When your bladder calls the shots…

Yep it’s that feeling again, you have lost control, your body says you need to go, NOW, and no matter what you do, urine leaks before you are ready.  Urge incontinence is a really common form of incontinence and it is usually due to an overactive bladder.

What can cause Urge Incontinence?

• Overactive Bladder – Your bladder wants to squeeze out urine and you are not ready, sometimes your bladder might not even be full so there is a bit of ‘frequency’ there too.
• Caffeine – Everything from tea, coffee and coke to caffeine in pain killers can really irritate your bladder resulting in you losing bladder control. Caffeine is a diuretic which means your kidneys will increase the amount of urine they produce and it is also known to stimulate...

Do you leak when you laugh?

Stress Incontinence or Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) (also known as Exercise Induced Urine Leakage EIUL) happens when your muscles weaken and are no longer able to support your bladder in place to keep you dry. It’s a ‘warning shot’; your body's way of telling you that you need to strengthen your muscles and this must not be ignored.

Don’t pad the problem and don’t pretend it didn’t happen as you consign your wet knickers to the laundry basket, because damp urine soaked panties are smelly, uncomfortable and bad for your self-esteem!

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

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...

When Stress meets Urge...

Put both of the following symptoms together, and you have Mixed Urinary Incontinence.

• Stress urinary incontinence happens when you sneeze, cough, laugh, lift or exercise. One in three women experience SUI at some point in their lives. Urine leaks because the pelvic floor is weak and unable to support the bladder properly.
• Urge urinary incontinence is when you really have to go... NOW! Sometimes you might not reach the loo in time, or just be taking your panties down and leak too soon.

What can cause Mixed Urinary Incontinence?

• Pregnancy – Extra weight and ‘pregnancy hormones’ put a strain on your pelvic floor resulting in leaks.
• Childbirth – Difficult births and problems such as a...

Bowel problems are much more common than most people think, and bowel incontinence is one of the more distressing bowel problems people can suffer.

Faecal incontinence can range in severity, ranging from passing a small piece of stool when passing wind, through to complete loss of bowel control. But no matter the severity of the problem, bowel incontinence can really damage self-esteem and quality of life.

If you are suffering bowel incontinence, it’s important not to just wear incontinence pads and hope the problem will go away, it’s important to see your doctor to establish the cause, and Kegel exercise to strengthen your pelvic floor. A strong pelvic floor means that your muscles can better support your pelvic organs and help to prevent faecal incontinence.

Bowel Incontinence Symptoms

• Passing a small stool when passing wind
• Complete loss of bowel control
• Diarrhoea
• Stomach pain
• Urinary incontinence
...

Regain Control of Your Bladder

If you've been struggling with urge incontinence it can be hard to know what to do. Often the urgent feeling is so strong that it feels impossible to resist it - nobody wants to end up having an accident in public! Unfortunately by giving into this panicky, 'need to go NOW!' feeling all the time you will actually be making this problem worse. When you go in response to this urge, your bladder starts to think that it has a far smaller capacity than it really does. It's a vicious cycle! But you can stop it via something called bladder training; just follow our guide.

Your Guide to Bladder Training

The main aim of bladder training is to slowly increase the amount of time between...

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...