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URINARY INCONTINENCE
Three most common types of urinary incontinence are STRESS INCONTINENCE, URGE INCONTINENCE and OVERFLOW INCONTINENCE.
Stress Incontinence stems from weakening of the pelvic floor muscle, which tends to occur with age. It’s especially common in women who’ve had multiple vaginal deliveries and men who’ve undergone surgery or radiation treatment for prostate cancer. When a sneeze, cough or physical activity puts extra pressure on the bladder, the weakened muscles can’t keep urine from leaking out.
Urge Incontinence, common in both men and women, develops when the bladder wall muscle becomes super sensitive, contraction when the bladder starts to fill instead of when it’s full. People with this condition frequent, strong and in some cases uncontrollable urges to urinate. That causes frequent trips to the bathroom. Producing just a small amount of urine each time.
Overflow incontinence occurs when the urethra becomes partly blocked or the bladder can’t contract efficiently. Either way, the amount of urine retained in the bladder after urination increases, causing urinary frequency. The bladder compensates by becoming less responsive. That causes even more urine to build up and eventually, overflow the bladder. In addition spasms in the pelvic floor muscles, combined with a constricted urethra, make starting and stopping the urinary stream difficult. Overflow incontinence is especially common in men because the prostate tends to enlarge with age, compressing the urethra. Many drugs as well as nerve damage from multiple sclerosis or advanced diabetes can impair the bladder’s ability to contract.
Treatment. The safest, most effective treatment for stress or urge incontinence is pelvic is pelvic-muscle exercises called Kegels, named after the urologist who invented some 60 years ago. Six months after prostate-cancer surgery, for example, 95 percent of men who did the exercises regularly had no urinary incontinence, compared with 65 percent of men who received no treatment, a study published in European Urology in July 2005 found.
The exercises typically take about 8 to 15 minutes a day, though you can perform them while you’re doing most anything else as long as you’re stationary.
Identify your pelvic-floor muscles by noticing the tightening in the rectal area when you interrupt your urine flow or stop the passage of gas.
To do the exercises, squeeze the muscles hard---without holding your breath of tightening the muscles in your legs, buttocks, or abdomen--- then slowly relax.
Perform two types of squeezes: short ones, lasting 2 seconds, and longer ones lasting 5 to 10 seconds. Do each type 40 to 50 times a day, either all at once or at scattered intervals, five to seven days a week. You will start noticing benefits in about 4 to 6 weeks. After you achieve your desired result you can do less.
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