Urinary incontinence- what to do?
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Hello, my friend is a 44-year-old woman with two children. She initially presented at age 41, complaining of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) with coughing and exercise. At that time, she was wearing pantiliners on a daily basis for protection against frequent incontinent episodes. She is now 44 years old and her overall health continues to be good. However, she is once again experiencing SUI with exercise and coughing. The frequency is approximately every two hours during the day and averages twice nightly. This is having a considerable deleterious impact on her quality of life, as she is very active in sports and again has to wear pantiliners most of the time for protection and maxi pads during exercise. Please advise what should she do.
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@nabamita Treatment for urinary incontinence depends on the type of incontinence, its severity and the underlying cause. A combination of treatments may be needed. If an underlying condition is causing your symptoms, your doctor will first treat that condition. Your doctor may recommend less invasive treatments to start with and move on to other options if these techniques fail to help you. Bladder training, to delay urination after you get the urge to go. You may start by trying to hold off for 10 minutes every time you feel an urge to urinate. The goal is to lengthen the time between trips to the toilet until you're urinating only every 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
Double voiding, to help you learn to empty your bladder more completely to avoid overflow incontinence. Double voiding means urinating, then waiting a few minutes and trying again.
Scheduled toilet trips, to urinate every two to four hours rather than waiting for the need to go.
Fluid and diet management, to regain control of your bladder. You may need to cut back on or avoid alcohol, caffeine or acidic foods. Reducing liquid consumption, losing weight or increasing physical activity also can ease the problem. our doctor may recommend that you do these exercises frequently to strengthen the muscles that help control urination. Also known as Kegel exercises, these techniques are especially effective for stress incontinence but may also help urge incontinence.
To do pelvic floor muscle exercises, imagine that you're trying to stop your urine flow. Then:
Tighten (contract) the muscles you would use to stop urinating and hold for five seconds, and then relax for five seconds. (If this is too difficult, start by holding for two seconds and relaxing for three seconds.)
Work up to holding the contractions for 10 seconds at a time.
Aim for at least three sets of 10 repetitions each day.