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Can Chiropractic Treatment Help Retain Adult Continence?

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Since good posture is one of the factors that helps preserve adult continence, the question comes to mind, can chiropractic treatment help keep you continent? With even the tiniest changes is posture severely affecting everything in your body, it makes sense that if your backbone is tight or crooked, as you get older you may begin to have problems with adult continence.

Not only does your posture affect your back, neck, knees and even breathing, it also affects the alignment of your pelvis, which houses all of your internal organs. If the angle of your pelvis is slightly off, then your organs including your bladder, may not be properly supported.

When you are young, your pelvic floor muscles are generally strong enough to compensate for bad posture, so you may never give the chiropractor a second thought. As you age, however, and the tissues throughout your body weaken, unfortunately that will include the muscles of your pelvic floor as well. This is where you may want to stack the deck in your favor with good posture.

By maintaining good posture as you age, you may be able to maintain your continence much longer than you ever expected. Of course you will want to keep your core muscles as strong as possible, but incontinence typically responds well to the pressure relieving benefits of a good chiropractic adjustment. To understand why an adjustment works, you will want to consider for a moment what is actually happening during the adjustment.

When the Chiropractor makes adjustment to your spine it can affect your entire body. The spinal cord meets the brain and this makes up your entire nervous system, which controls everything in your body. These nerves control all motor movements, and this includes urination. So if understand that the central nervous system is actually protected by the backbone and the skull, it may begin to make sense why adjusting your backbone can help keep you from becoming incontinent.

When a Chiropractor makes the adjustment to a joint in your backbone, he may be relieving pressure on one of your nerves, which may have suffered bad communication with the brain as a result of the pinching pressure. When the pressure is relieved, normal communication is restored, and with normal communication comes normal body function.

Since urinary incontinence can be caused by improper nerve function, and adjusting the backbone can correct the function of the nerve, it turns out that having a well-adjusted spine along with your good posture can really help you stave off the onset of adult urinary incontinence. Even with weakening muscles as you age, having all of the nerves running along your backbone properly functioning can give help you to retain or even regain your adult continence.

If you are suffering from incontinence, pads can help you live your life free of worry. They come in a great variety of shapes, sizes, and absorbencies to deal with mild to severe incontinence. They afford you comfort and protection from skin irritation, and are invaluable in protecting clothing and furniture. DryForLife supplies incontinence pads allowing you the freedom to live your life fully.

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Urinary Incontinence in Women Increases with Age

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

As women age, they begin to have problems with some sort of urine leakage, and the incidence of urinary leakage seems to increase with age. While at first glance it may seem ordinary that any physical problem gets worse with age, perhaps women should not just accept this statistic as their inevitable future.

Why does urinary incontinence increase in women as they age?

1. Trauma – A major factor that many women have to deal with is the trauma that their body has endured going through childbirth. While some urinary incontinence in women may be immediate, other times the damage takes a while to manifest itself. Not only childbirth, but the pull of gravity on a woman’s pelvic organs can cause the bladder, uterus or bowel to shift out of their correct position causing increased pressure on the pelvic floor muscles, which can lead to urinary incontinence. Also as tissues weaken with age more problems begin.
2. Hormones – As women age their estrogen levels drop, and after menopause the levels begin declining even faster. Lower estrogen levels cause connective tissues to weaken. These connective tissues are a prominent part of the pelvic floor muscles, and as they weaken, they take the strength of the pelvic floor with them. The pelvic floor muscles offer support to a woman’s internal organs and help to control urine flow, so with weakened muscles comes urinary incontinence in women.
3. Exercise – Frequently as women age, they naturally become less active. With the decrease in activity, muscles become flabby, and the pelvic floor muscles are no exception. Exercise can help stave off many problems as women age, like urinary incontinence, if women make some lifestyle changes before it is too late.

While nature seems to be against women as they age, if they take care to maintain a healthy lifestyle including a well rounded diet and adequate exercise, they can actually hold their ground against Mother Nature. Though there may be times that illness or injury cause problems that women simply have to accept, it is nice to know that for the affects of simple aging women can paint their own bright future by heeding some simple and practical advice, eat well and exercise.

Incontinence pads can allow any woman who is suffering from urinary incontinence the security to live their lives free of worry. The pads come in a great variety of shapes, sizes, and absorbencies to deal with mild to severe incontinence, and they afford the wearer comfort and protection from skin irritation while protecting furniture and clothing. DryForLife supplies a complete line of incontinence pads allowing persons who have incontinence the freedom to live their lives fully.

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Overactive Bladder: The Acid Connection

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

If you are suffering from an overactive bladder, you may want to check the acidity level of your urine. A recent study has linked high acidity levels in urine to overactive bladder symptoms. What seems to happen is that when there is a high acid level in the urine, it stimulates the cells in the bladder wall, which then send a neurotransmitter signal to the brain that the bladder is full. This study is the first one to draw a straight connection between bladder function and acid.

An overactive bladder can be very difficult to treat, because doctors still do not really understand what causes it. That is why the connection between overactive bladder and acid is an exciting discovery. Currently, an overactive bladder is treated with drugs, which reduce neurotransmitter activity; however, these drugs come with side effects and can be expensive.

Treating overactive bladder is a very expensive proposition. Surprisingly it is more expensive than treating pneumonia, breast cancer and osteoporosis. So if researchers can find a cause, there may be a new, more affordable treatment or cure on the horizon, not to mention reduced side effects like dry mouth, drowsiness and constipation.

Published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, this study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and a grant from Pfizer. While the study’s findings are promising, the research is still in its early stages; so for the present time the cause and treatment of overactive bladder are still proving to be elusive.

As you are working through the solution to your problem, incontinence pads can free you from the worry of having an accident. They come in many different sizes and absorbencies to deal with any problem from mild to severe. They protect clothing and your skin. DryForLife supplies incontinence pads, which may be ordered online and delivered discreetly right to your front door.

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Reflex Urinary Incontinence

Monday, November 30th, 2009

When there is damage to the nerves that allow a person to control when they urinate the bladder fills, but the person has no sensation that they need to empty their bladder. When the bladder becomes overfull, it will eventually empty on its own, which is called reflex urinary incontinence. This type of incontinence is most commonly found in people who have a spinal cord injury, suffered a stroke, have Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis or have a brain tumor.

People suffering from reflex incontinence are unable to control the release of urine from the bladder, and it can occur when the bladder contracts involuntarily causing urine to leak. This type of incontinence can be diagnosed by a gynecologist, urologist, or family doctor.

There are several different types of tests that your doctor may request to determine the cause of your incontinence problem including a physical exam, urinalysis, x-rays or cystoscopy. Your doctor may ask you to keep a journal of your urination schedule and to note when urinary leakage occurs.

Your doctor may choose to do an IVP, which is a specialized procedure that injects contrast dye before x-raying internal organs. The test is looking for blockages or obstructive growths that may cause the reflex incontinence.

A cystoscopy involves your urologist inserting a thin tube into your urethra to check for abnormalities that may be causing the reflex incontinence. They may also choose to take a biopsy of any suspect tissue that they encounter.

If the reason for your reflex urinary incontinence is unknown, you will want to have a medical professional diagnose you as soon as possible. Aside from being inconvenient and annoying, it may be warning you of some more sinister problem lurking in the shadows. By having your doctor properly diagnose your problem, you will be able to start a course of treatment to manage and maybe even cure your problem.

As your doctor is working on properly diagnosing the cause of your reflex urinary incontinence, the right incontinence products can free you from the worry of having accidental leakage in public. Incontinence pads come in many different sizes and absorbencies to deal with any problem from mild to severe. DryForLife supplies a variety of incontinence products, which may be ordered online and discreetly delivered to you.
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Continence Care Management

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Incontinence is a health care problem that cannot be ignored, and the problem is growing geometrically as the population is aging. Continence care nursing is a growing area of nursing specialty that identifies, assesses and manages urinary, fecal and double incontinence. This nursing specialty looks at health care problems from a holistic point of view as it considers causative factors and the complications that accompany the management of urinary and fecal loss. Continence care nursing includes risk assessment, prevention and skin problems.

While the foundation for primary continence management is based in understanding the normal voiding process, the continence nurse will identify risk factors for both urinary and fecal incontinence as well as assess the overall condition of their patient. This includes getting the patient’s medical history, giving the patient physical examination, and building a profile of the patient’s voiding habits. The continence nurse also looks for factors that can complicate the situation like infection, impacted bowel, urine retention, skin damage and neurological abnormalities.

The primary continence care nurse is responsible for setting up an appropriate continence management program. The nurse will manage food and fluid intake, assist with bowel training and bladder retraining, oversee physical therapy, manage catheter and offer education to their patients. The nurse will also identify patients who require more in depth symptom analysis.

The advanced continence care nurse will perform the same assessments that a primary continence care nurse does as well as performing a detailed physical exam, fluoroscopic imaging, overseeing management of the patient’s condition, helping with pelvic floor rehabilitation/education, and fitting vaginal pessaries.

Both the primary and advanced continence care nurses know the physiology and anatomy of the digestive system including the GI, GU and integumentary systems. The continence care nurse is comfortable dealing with elimination problems and can collaborate with other health care professionals to help the patient manage their continence problem.

With over half of the elderly populations in institutions having continence issues, the continence care nurse is proving to be a valuable addition to a comprehensive and holistic approach to dealing with the challenges of continence health.

Incontinence pads can allow those who suffer from incontinence symptoms the security to live their lives free of worry. They come in a variety of sizes, and absorbencies to deal with mild to severe incontinence. They are comfortable to wear, and protect skin from irritation. They are invaluable in protecting clothing and furniture. They can be worn by themselves inside underpants or can be used in conjunction with incontinence pants. DryForLife supplies incontinence pads with all of these qualities, allowing you to simply live your life.

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Bladder Problems in Men

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

A study conducted earlier this year was designed to research an important issue with bladder problems and men’s health. The study was conducted by a team at San Diego Medical Center in California. Along with the medical advances in the last decade men’s overall health care has improved, which is offering men increased longevity. Along with this longer life span, however, come problems, some of which have surprising side effects.

The San Diego Medical Center study measured whether elderly men with severe bladder problems have a higher risk of suffering a debilitating fall. The team studied over five thousand men over the age of 65. Of these men between five and ten percent of them had severe bladder problems. Interestingly, throughout the term of the study about a quarter of the men reported falling at least one time, and over a tenth of the men reported falling two or more times.

What the research team found is that mild bladder weakness did not significantly increase the numbers of falls that an elderly man experienced. However, when men suffered from more serious bladder problems, they were much more likely to experience a fall. The type of incontinence symptoms most commonly associated with the increased umber of falls is urgency problems.

It is in rushing to the bathroom that the increased danger of falling occurs as well as in frequent trips to the bathroom at night, in the dark. The sudden dash for the toilet has caused its fair share of injuries. Another problem that adds to the number of falls is that men who have trouble relieving themselves may try using the Valsalva maneuver. This maneuver is when a person exhales forcefully without letting of the air out, and it can cause fainting.

Frequent bathroom trips at night may leave an elderly man sleep deprived, so if they do not trip over something on the way to the bathroom at night in the dark, they still stand the risk of loosing coordination and concentration as they become more tired. Since falls can be so serious and injuries can be devastating in elderly men, bladder problems in this segment should be taken very seriously.

If you are suffering from incontinence you always want to discuss any concerns you have with your doctor. And as you are working through the solution to your problem, incontinence pads can free you from the worry of having accidental leakage in public, and they may even reduce the risk of injury by eliminating the mad dash to the restroom. Incontinence comes in many different sizes and absorbencies to deal with any problem from mild to severe. They protect clothing and furniture, and they offer protection from skin irritation. DryForLife supplies incontinence pads, which may be ordered online and delivered discreetly right to your front door.

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Adult Bedwetting: Causes and Management

Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Nocturnal enuresis or bedwetting is the involuntary voiding of urine during sleep after the age at which bladder control is normally established. Both men and women can suffer from uncontrollable bedwetting. Often, adults who wet their beds refuse to discuss their discomfort even with their own doctors because they feel embarrassed. This is a rather unfortunate mistake because your doctor can give you advice on ways to improve symptoms as well as possible treatments for bedwetting.
Bedwetting is a complex disorder because many factors are thought to play a significant part. Bedwetting that occurs in adulthood may either be persistent primary enuresis or secondary enuresis.

Primary nocturnal enuresis begins during childhood, where nighttime dryness has not been achieved for longer than six months. If this is not resolved during childhood or teenage years, it is quite likely that bedwetting will persist into adulthood.

The causes of primary nocturnal enuresis may be any of the following:

  • Strong genetic predisposition – The exact mechanism for the inheritance of the disorder is still unknown.
  • Insufficient production of anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) at night – Your ADH level normally increases during the night, causing your body to produce a smaller total volume of urine during sleep. If your ADH level is not high enough, urine production is increased.
  • Abnormalities of the urinary bladder – Some nocturnal enuresis sufferers have smaller than normal bladders.
  • Psychological factors – Stress and other psychological issues have long been thought to play a part in bedwetting.
Secondary enuresis occurs when a person has established bladder control for a period of six months, and begins wetting the bed again.
The causes of secondary enuresis may be any of the following:
  • Diabetes
  • Chronic constipation
  • Urinary tract infection
  • Urinary tract stones
  • Prostate enlargement
  • Bladder cancer
  • Neurological disorders
Age or illness can weaken the muscles that control the flow of urine to your urethra. If these muscles weaken, you may leak urine during sleep, or you may be unable to stop the flow of urine when your bladder is full.
Adults who suffered from spinal cord trauma from a fall, auto accident, or other traumatic event may also be at risk for secondary enuresis. Anxiety or other emotional disorders are considered as rare causes of adult bedwetting.

Some medications that can cause a deep sleep can lead to adult bedwetting. Such medicines do not enable a person to wake when the urge to urinate occurs.

Management Options for Adult Bedwetting

Adult bedwetting needs to be evaluated by your doctor. If you have relatives suffering from adult enuresis, you need to encourage them to talk about their problem. Their concerns must be treated sensitively, and they must be gently persuaded to seek medical attention. There are a number of treatment and condition management options for bedwetting. These include medications, programs to change the sleep pattern, and exercises to improve the bladder control.

Many adults suffering from bedwetting find absorbent pads, protective underwear and waterproof mattress pads to be extremely helpful. These products promote comfort and at the same time ease clean up of bedwetting incidents. DryForLife supplies incontinence pads, which may be ordered online and delivered discreetly right to your front door.

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Continence Advise – Getting Healthy in 4 Minutes a Day

Monday, November 9th, 2009

When you are young and healthy you never give continence a second thought, but if you do not do anything to make sure that you stay continent as an older adult, you may find yourself facing problems later on.  So here is a little continence advise tip that you can easily fit into your daily life now to make sure that you stay healthy.

The key to maintaining your continence health well into your later years is to keep the muscles of your pelvic floor strong and healthy.  Most people never give these muscles a single thought until they are just about not working, and at that point there is only so much that you can do.  However, if you pay a little attention to them now, you may never, ever have to worry about them.

Think of your pelvic floor muscles kind of like a sling stretched across your pelvis.  The sling of muscles has two perforations in it, one for the urethra, and one for the anus.  In women, there is a third perforation for the vagina.  The purpose of the pelvic floor muscles is to support all of the body’s organs for evacuation and childbirth.

There are basically two different types of muscles that make up the pelvic floor. One set of muscles is strong and designed for endurance, and its job is to support the pelvic contents.  The second group of pelvic floor muscles is designed for strength and speed, and it provides additional closing strength for the urethra when needed (i.e. when you laugh, sneeze or cough).

The best way to make sure these muscles stay healthy is simple.  Just exercise them regularly.  For the endurance muscles squeeze them (just as you would interrupt your urine flow) and hold for five to ten seconds.  Then relax for two to three seconds between squeezes.  For the second set of muscles squeeze as hard as you can for one second.

To build strength in these muscles do five of the endurance muscle squeezes and ten of the one second squeezes six times per day.  You can do them anytime, anywhere.  So build a habit of taking a few seconds throughout the day to build your pelvic floor muscles.  If your muscles are already strong, you can do this same set for only three times a day to maintain the strength that you already have.

If you have lost some strength in your pelvic floor muscles, this continence advise may help, but it may take up to six months of religiously doing these exercises, which are known as Kegel exercises, to see a marked improvement in function.  As you are rebuilding your muscles, incontinence pads can free you from the worry of having accidental leakage in public.  They do a great job of protecting clothing and furniture.  DryForLife is always available to deliver incontinence pads to you quickly and discreetly.

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Dealing with Frequent Urination

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Frequent urination while inconvenient does not always indicate a serious problem.  If you find that you have to urinate more often than you usually do, you are suffering from the symptoms of frequent urination, which is also known as urgent urination.  Sometimes the need to urinate is sudden and urgent, and sometimes it is a gradual, growing discomfort in your bladder.

If you suffer from the symptoms of frequent urination during the night, it is called nocturia.  You should generally be able to sleep for about eight hours without needing to go to the bathroom. 

There are many things that can cause frequent urination like illness, pregnancy or enlarged prostate.  Simply drinking too much liquid right before retiring for the night can cause you to suffer from nocturia.  If you have an occasional occurrence of frequent urination, then you may not need to give it much thought, but you should contact your doctor if the problem persists.

You will want to check in with your doctor sooner rather than later if you have any other symptoms at all including pain, nausea or fever.  You may want to keep a log of what times you go to the bathroom to help you determine the cause of your urinary frequency problem. 

Then as you are treating the underlying cause of your frequent urination, even if it is for a short time, you may wish to use incontinence pads to alleviate your worries or having an accident.  They are available at DryForLife in many different absorbencies and sizes, and they will help protect skin from irritation as well as protect clothing and furniture.

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Am I Incontinent?

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine resulting from a loss of bladder control, and any number of different factors can cause it.  If you suspect that you may be incontinent, it might be a good idea to understand exactly what incontinence is. 

There are four basic areas of incontinence, urge, stress, overflow and functional.  Each has a different set of symptoms. 

Urge incontinence occurs when the bladder contracts or spasms when it should not.  You may feel a sudden and intense urge to urinate.  You could also have to go to the bathroom much more frequently than usual, or you may be bedwetting at night.  The urine leakage may range anywhere from a few drops to a larger amount. 

Stress incontinence occurs when the muscles around the urethra are weak, and something causes pressure on the abdomen like laughing, coughing or sneezing which forces urine out of the bladder.  This normally does not occur at night, and any amount of leakage may occur.

Overflow incontinence happens when the bladder does not contract properly or the muscles around the urethra are too strong giving you the sensation that your bladder is not empty even right after you go.  This problem results in either bedwetting, frequent bathroom trips or small amounts of fairly constant leakage.

Functional incontinence happens when a person is either physically disabled or suffers from dementia making it difficult for them to manage going to the bathroom.  It generally does not occur at night and is normally not a direct problem with the urinary system. 

If one of these incontinent patterns fits your situation, contact your health care professional for a checkup.  The symptoms can frequently be remedied with anything from medication, to exercise to surgery.  The sooner you have your incontinence problem diagnosed, the better your chances are of finding a speedy solution.

There are many different types of incontinence pads available today to make dealing with incontinence easier than ever before, and your purchases can even be delivered discreetly and directly to your door.

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