Urinary Incontinence Causes and Possible Treatments
Often people fail to realize that urinary incontinence is a symptom rather than a disease. While it is most common among the elderly, it may occur in people who are suffering from other undetected medical conditions.
If treatment is the way to go, consulting a doctor immediately can offer relief. While certain food substances like alcoholic beverages, foods containing spice, acid, and sugar, blood pressure medicines, can trigger temporary incontinence, people consuming high doses of vitamin B and C are at risk. Besides this, prolonged infection in the urinary tract and constipation can contribute to this condition. With treatment for urinary incontinence, you can expect to get some relief.
Often, only when your urinary symptoms seem to be out of your control, you seek treatment for urinary incontinence. Here’s a quick glimpse of some of these physical problems that might trigger incontinence.
- Pregnancy and childbirth
Hormonal changes during pregnancy can lead to problems and damage to the nerves and tissues of the bladder during childbirth. This can also cause urinary incontinence. When the bladder, rectum, and uterus are pushed down, urinary incontinence becomes inevitable. - Enlargement of the prostate
In men, urinary incontinence occurs due to an enlarged prostate gland. If there is ignorance in treating prostate cancer, it can lead to this condition.
People with a tumor in the urinary tract find that it often causes obstruction and hindrance in the normal flow of urine, which develops incontinence.
Surgeries that involve the muscles of the bladder and uterus may not be able to provide adequate support to the pelvic muscles leading to this condition. Deterioration of the muscles of urethra and bladder after menopause is another reason that you need to control.
Changes in the behavioral technique may often lead to benefits in controlling incontinence and the doctor might just offer similar advice to patients. One of these measures is to hold the urine for about ten minutes before you empty the bladder. People with incontinence may need to wait for some time after passing urine and repeating it again. Cutting down on foods that contain acids and alcoholic beverages are other ways to control urine. Emptying the bladder from time to time can help release the pressure.
There are medications to control incontinence and are considered a major part of the treatment for urinary incontinence. Anticholinergic medicines create a calming effect on the bladder and reduce symptoms. Besides this, topical estrogen when applied locally in the form of patch, ring or cream can help. Alpha blockers relax the neck muscles of urinary bladder and fiber muscles of the prostate, which control the urge to urinate. Mirabegron not only relaxes the muscles of the bladder but also allow it to hold more urine than usual.
Interventional therapies are used to treat the condition. A device, which stimulates the nerves around the bladder is inserted under the skin as it works well for patients not responding to drugs. Injecting bulk material keeps the urethra closed and prevents leakage of urine but this procedure may not prove useful for people with chronic problems. Botox injections are appropriate for people with a urinary bladder, which is overactive.
Exercises of pelvic muscles and electrical stimulation control incontinence. Kegel exercises help in strengthening the muscles that control urination. You must contract the muscles and release them within ten seconds. These exercises help in the treatment of urinary incontinence. Additionally, trying to work with a physical therapist can help. Electrodes, when inserted into the vagina or rectum temporarily for stimulation of pelvic floor muscles, aid in controlling stress incontinence.
When medicines fail to work, surgical procedures form the major part of treatment for urinary incontinence and effectiveness varies depending on the condition. An incision can be made in the thick muscles that are present in the area, which connects the urethra and the bladder providing support to the neck of the bladder and urethra. A combination of prolapse and sling surgery is useful for women with urinary incontinence. A sling is made from synthetic materials and body tissues and it is placed in the region of the thick muscles that connect the bladder and urethra. It acts as a protective cover and controls incontinence when you cough or sneeze.
Getting treated for urinary incontinence helps to improve the overall quality of life. It is hard to deny the psychosocial impact of this problem and specific options of treatment prove efficient allowing people to live a full life.
