Friday, June 14, 2013

Urge Incontinence - How to Stop Urine Leakage


Urge incontinence is an embarrassing problem that often affects elderly people, among others. A sudden strong urge to urinate is accompanied by involuntary urine leakage. This may happen unexpectedly at night, even causing a person to wet the bed.

Who Is At Risk For Developing Urge Incontinence?


  • Older folks, as mentioned above.

  • Women going through menopause, or post-menopausal women

  • People who are overweight

  • Ladies who are pregnant, or who have just had a baby

  • A person with a urinary tract infection

  • Men who have had prostate surgery

  • Someone who has nerve damage from an injury, a stroke, or diabetes

  • A person suffering from multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, or Alzheimer's

What Causes A Weak Bladder?

Abnormal bladder contractions are usually the culprit. Normally, the urinary sphincter controls the passage of urine. But sometimes the contractions are so strong that they override the sphincter. This causes involuntary leaking.

These abnormally strong contractions may be the result of an injury to the spinal cord. Nerve damage may also result from a stroke, or from a disease such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or multiple sclerosis.

Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be any reason for the contractions. They just happen.

Are There Any Non-Invasive Treatments?

Kegel exercises are very effective in strengthening the pelvic floor muscles. These muscles support all the organs in the area, so it's important to keep them toned.

Kegels are very easy to do. Just contract the muscles, as you would to stop the flow of urine. Hold them tense for three seconds, and relax for three seconds. Do three sets of ten several times a day. As time passes, you'll be able to gradually increase your time for tensing and relaxing to ten seconds.

You may also find biofeedback to be helpful in learning how your body functions. Two techniques are used: timed voiding and training.

With timed voiding, you'll keep track of when you need to go and when you start leaking. Once you find the pattern, you can go to the bathroom before the time you expect leakage to occur.

Training involves increasing the time between bathroom breaks. You may want to start with an hour between potty visits. Once this is working, start increasing the time interval, perhaps to 90 minutes. You can gradually work up to three to four hours between visits.

Natural Remedies For Urge Incontinence

Water-soluble pumpkin seed extract has been showing promise as a natural treatment for this problem. Pumpkin seed has been used by many different cultures over the centuries to treat urinary problems, and it's safe and effective.

Soy germ extract is another promising treatment, especially for women who are going through menopause, or who are post-menopausal. Declining estrogen levels often lead to a loss of muscle tone, which can cause leakage. Soy contains a natural phytoestrogen, which may help to solve the problem.

You don't need to just "live with" a weak bladder. Kegel exercises and herbal treatments may be effective ways to manage this problem.

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