9) Urinary incontinence affects up to 33% of adults in the United States.
That works out to be over 100 million sufferers! That works out to approximately 66 million women and 33 million men in the United States. Chances are that someone in your family is dealing with incontinence, whether you are aware of it or not.
8) Incontinence during pregnancy and after birthing is typically temporary.
For most women, the urine leakage they experience during pregnancy and after child birth is normal and should subside within 6 weeks. If it doesn’t, you can talk to a doctor to determine what is still causing incontinence.
7) Solutions may lie in lifestyle changes.
Did you know that you can effect a great change in your own incontinence issues by simply changing some of your day to day habits and routines? Avoiding caffeine and alchohol, limiting fluid intake, maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding heavy lifting and smoking may all help reduce urinary incontinence.
6) Bladder Leakage affects men, too.
Incontinence is often considered a woman’s issue, and it’s true that the affliction is twice as common in women as it is in men. But that still leaves a large population of men in the USA who suffer from some form of leakage, and without much of a support group to turn to.
5) Simply exercises can help.
There are bladder training exercises referred to as Kegel exercises that help strenghthen pelvic muscles. Although associated with women, these exercises can also help bladder leakage in men. Just like any workout, don’t expect immediate results, but if you stick with it, you may see a marked improvement within a month.
4) Incontinence is not part of Aging.
Incontinence is often seen as an inevitable part of the process of getting older. And while aging does increase the risk factors for contracting incontnence, the two are otherwise mutually exclusive.
3) Medication can help.
Although not all forms of urinary incontinence can be treated with medicine, some respond well to medicaitons. These meds may relax the bladder to reduce spasms, slow urine production or block nerve signals. There are also medical devices like pessaries that may help inctrease control over continence.
2) Urinary Incontinence gets worse over time.
Although bladder leakage may start as a minor inconvenience, it often worsens over time. It is in fact a health problem, not simply a nuisance. Skin problems and repeated urinary tract infections are phyical effects while loss of confidence and reclusion from social settings have a debilitating emotional damage.
1) Incontinence typically signals other problems.
Urinary incontinence doesn’t occur on it’s own, and is typically a sign that there is a problem along the urinary tract. These problems include infections, blockage, nerve damage and muscle weakness. The only path to controlling incontinence is to determine the underlying problems that are causing it.
