Types Of Incontinence | DryForLife Incontinence Advice

Archive for the ‘Types of Incontinence’ Category

Leaking Bowels Can be a Lot to Manage

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

If you are experiencing a decreased ability to control gas or stool, poorly controlled bowel motions or leaking bowels, then you are dealing with faecal incontinence or bowel incontinence. The symptoms for faecal incontinence can vary from an involuntary passing of gas to a complete loss of control. Affecting both women and men this type of incontinence can cause a great deal of anxiety in those suffering from it.

It can adversely affect your daily life and cause problems with your social life, your work life and your life in general. In elderly people, it is one of the most common reasons that they are placed in a nursing home. Even though this condition is relatively common, there is still a lot of reluctance discussing it, so many people never find the proper help that they need to manage the condition to their best advantage.

Passing a stool involves two sphincters, which are the muscles that hold the stool in the anal canal. There is an involuntary internal sphincter, which you do not consciously control, and there is a voluntarily external sphincter, which you can control. You can consciously squeeze the external muscles to prevent leaking bowels when you sneeze or cough for example. While ageing is certainly a contributing factor to faecal incontinence, there are other factors that can cause this condition as well. For example, in women childbirth is one of the biggest contributors to this type of incontinence. Small injuries to the sphincter muscles can occur from tears, infections, eposiotomies or a prolonged labor and may not show up for years. Then as the muscles weaken with age, the injury becomes an issue causing leaking bowels.

Abnormalities of the rectum can also cause this type of incontinence, whether from disease, genetics or injury. Other injuries like spinal cord injuries can also result in leaking bowels. Any time the nerve function is damaged, you can lose the ability to feel when you need to have a bowel movement. Suddenly it is impossible to tell the difference between the need to pass gas or a stool. As with any type of incontinence the treatments depend on the causes of the condition. Sometimes just a change in diet or simple medication can take care of the problem, and in other cases physical therapy to build muscle strength or to sense a stool can take care of the problem. Even surgical repairs are successful in correcting injury to anal muscles and restoring faecal continence.

So the first person that you want to consult, if you are having problems with leaking bowels, is your doctor, because your medical professional is the one who can help you efficiently resolve your problem. While you are working with your doctor to manage your bowel incontinence using the proper incontinence products can help you to stay active and engaged socially. DryForLife offers a complete line of incontinence pads and products, which can be ordered online or by phone and delivered discreetly right to your front door.

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Urine Leak Becomes More Likely with Age

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

While urinary incontinence can happen at any age, it happens with far more frequency in the elderly. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from incontinence, and up to thirty five percent of people over the age of sixty suffer from some type of urine leak. As an elderly person becomes bedridden their chances of having to deal with incontinence goes up to over fifty percent.

Healthy, active, older adults can be afflicted with urinary incontinence simply because there are a number of changes that happen in the urinary tract physiology as people age. These changes directly affect continence. For example, as you age your bladder becomes less elastic, and this causes the bladder to have a smaller capacity making older people have to go to the bathroom more frequently than their younger counterparts.

As you age your muscles weaken in general, and this includes the detrusor muscle, which is responsible for emptying the bladder. This weakened muscle results in a bladder that does not completely empty. The other thing that happens to the detrusor muscle is that it may also suffer from spontaneous contractions as you age, and these contractions result in a urine leak anywhere from a light leakage to a heavy flow.

Older adults can lose the ability to postpone urination, and they have a decreased closing pressure in the urethra. On top of that, the kidneys, whose job it is to concentrate urine, become less efficient causing the volume of urine to be larger. And finally the pelvic floor muscles, which support all of your internal organs, are also becoming weaker offering less support to the urinary system in general as you age.

For post menopausal women, estrogen deficiencies can cause weakness in the urethral sphincters causing incontinence as well, and for older men, prostate surgery can cause incontinence, which can be temporary or permanent.

While ageing is certainly a factor in urinary incontinence, it is not a guarantee that you will have the problem. Maintaining a healthy weight and diet, as well as getting regular exercise are all important factors in maintaining the health of your urinary system.

If you find that as you get older you are having to deal with a urine leak, either slight or heavy, by using the proper incontinence pads you can continue to live your same healthy, active lifestyle. With the worry of having an embarrassing urine leak in public completely removed, you can still enjoy your life with confidence.

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Bladder Problem is Common Condition

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

One of the most common medical problems is a bladder problem, however it is also one of the least discussed medical problems. There are many different causes for bladder problems, and there are also many different treatments and cures for these problems. Bladder problems can cause a myriad of secondary problems including skin irritations, infections, sexual dysfunction, sleep deprivation, social stigmas and low self esteem.

Urinary incontinence or bladder problems can be caused by physical trauma, disease, genetics or medication. While there are many different physical causes, incontinence can also be caused by psychological problems as well. The symptoms of incontinence can vary widely from a tiny amount of urine leakage to complete loss of bladder control.

Bladder problems can show up as a strong and immediate urgency to urinate where you may not be able to hold your bladder until you can reach a restroom. You may also have developed a frequency of urination where you have to go to the bathroom far more frequently than normal throughout the day and night. Frequent urination during sleeping hours is called nocturia and can be harmful because it deprives you of proper rest. Another manifestation of bladder problems is when there is a hesitancy when trying to begin urinating or when there is straining to force urination. Dribbling after urination is finished is also indicative of a bladder problem.

Other more troubling bladder problems include dysuria, which is a condition where urination causes pain, and hematuria, which indicates that there is blood in the urine.

There are lifestyle choices that we all make that can lead to bladder problems. Smoking is at the top of the list as it can irritate the bladder as well as cause harm to the immune system. Overeating can also lead to bladder problems, as excess body fat and obesity are direct causes to reduced muscle tone throughout the body including bladder and pelvic floor muscles, which support the organs that control the flow of urine. Exercise is essential to maintaining good overall muscle tone as well as bowel health, and becoming constipated can cause muscle damage from straining.

For women pregnancy and childbirth are both contributors to bladder problems, and later in life menopause in women increases the likelihood of developing problems with urinary incontinence. In men an enlarged prostate can cause bladder problems, and later in life the side effects of prostate surgery can cause problems with urinary incontinence.

Then there are any number of medications, diseases and injuries, especially to the spinal cord that can cause bladder problems as well. Treating a bladder problem can be done through behavior modification, medication or surgery depending on what the underlying cause is, and most bladder problems can be well managed even if they are not completely curable.

There are a few things that you can easily do to help your bladder and urinary system stay healthy including proper hydration, restricting foods that irritate the bladder including caffeine and alcohol, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and voiding both the bladder and the bowels regularly. But if you have developed a bladder problem despite taking care of your bladder health, make sure to discuss the problem with your doctor, and while you are working towards a solution to your bladder problem, make sure that you avail yourself of the many incontinence pads and pants that can help you easily manage your problem. DryForLife has been supplying continence care products for over forty years and is available to help you deal with your bladder problem.

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Understanding Mixed Urinary Incontinence

Friday, February 12th, 2010

There are many factors that contribute to mixed urinary incontinence or just incontinence in general for that matter. While incontinence is generally associated with older people, they have not necessarily cornered the market on incontinence. While ageing and the general deterioration of muscle strength that goes along with it certainly can cause urinary incontinence, the condition is caused by a litany of other things as well. In general women suffer from adult incontinence more frequently than men, however side effects from surgeries, injuries, disease and ageing happen to both men and women. The big factor that uniquely affects women is pregnancy and childbirth taking its toll on the muscles of the pelvic floor.

There are several different kinds of incontinence, each having an unique cause. Stress incontinence happens when pressure is exerted on the bladder and causes urinary leakage. Something as benign as a laugh, cough or sneeze is enough to cause accidental leakage. This type of incontinence is caused by damage or a weakening of the pelvic floor muscles.

Another type of incontinence is urge incontinence, which happens when you must empty your bladder immediately even where there is no toilet in sight, and so you have an accident. Urge incontinence is sometimes also referred to as overactive bladder, because it is the uncontrollable bladder contraction that causes the urinary incontinence. This is the type of incontinence that is most commonly found among older people.

Stress incontinence coupled with urge incontinence is known as mixed urinary incontinence, but generally when people suffer from mixed incontinence, even though both types of incontinence are present, one or the other is definitely more pronounced, and that is the set of symptoms that you will usually want to treat first.

There are many different treatments for mixed urinary incontinence depending on what the underlying causes of the problems are. In some cases behavioral therapy or a simple lifestyle change is all that is needed to handle the problem. Pelvic floor exercises, vaginal cones, and biofeedback can help to strengthen lax pelvic floor muscles. Then medication and surgery are available for more serious cases of incontinence. So depending on the type of incontinence that you have, treatment options are numerous and varied.

While you are determining what the cause and proper treatments are for your mixed urinary incontinence problems, you can still live your life happily and confidently by managing your incontinence problems. Finding the right incontinence products helps you stay active and engaged in social activities. DryForLife has a full range of incontinence products that can help any level of incontinence problem, and they can be ordered online, by phone or through the mail for speedy, discreet delivery.

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Urinary Incontinence and the Internet

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Urinary incontinence is a relatively common problem that is barely discussed, because it is a problem that evokes deep seated embarrassment and angst. While incontinence is generally a symptom or a side effect of another underlying problem, it is a tough problem to deal with nonetheless. As it turns out the internet is an absolute blessing for anyone suffering from incontinence, because even though people are still quite reluctant to discuss incontinence in polite company, there is an abundance of information regarding the subject available online.

A study was conducted at the Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care (University of Bergen, Ulriksdal 8c, N-5009 Bergen, Norway, http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7201/29) by Hogne Sandvik, which looked at the internet to see if it is a valuable resource for women who are dealing with urinary incontinence issues. The study evaluated a relatively limited group of internet sites including 25 web doctors, 2 news groups and 75 websites. All of these sites contained information on urinary incontinence.

What the study found is that while there is not much in-depth information about urinary incontinence, there is a lot of information, and it is generally correct. The website that was deemed to be the most informative interestingly could be found through a regular Internet search engine, but it did not show up in any of the medical index searches.

In the study an email question for advice was sent to each website with questions about incontinence from a fictitious woman, and about two thirds of the websites responded to the email. Half of the email responses were received within 24 hours, and 12 of the responses were quite comprehensive offering vitally helpful information.

Another interesting thing that the study found is that the quality of the website’s content was not reflected in its search engine ranking. So some of the less popular sites actually had better information than many of the more popular sites. There is a lot of high quality information regarding urinary incontinence on available on the Internet, and the information is timely and easy to access.

Since the Internet has become a source for everything from cooking to house hunting, it only makes sense that it works as a useful tool in gathering information and managing urinary incontinence. While the exact benefits of using the Internet in this way are still vastly unmeasured, it holds a lot of valuable information that is easy to retrieve. It is also an excellent place for people with incontinence to interact, and because there is a veil of anonymity in an online discussion, the sting of the social stigma is lessened.

So if you are working your way through a brush with incontinence, remember that while the Internet is not a substitute for discussing your problem with your doctor, it can be a valuable resource for information, practical solutions and moral support. You can even find incontinence products on the Internet, which you can order from the comfort of your home, and have them delivered directly to you. DryForLife has been helping customers manage their urinary incontinence by providing the right product at the right time. Using quality incontinence products can help keep you comfortable and confident.

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Mental Health Related to Bladder Problems in Women

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

A study was done on 121 female veterans in the United States who suffered from lower urinary tract symptoms. The researchers evaluated the women’s age, race, obstetric history, mental health history and sexual trauma history. This group of women was compared to a control group of 1298 women.

The results of the study showed that women who suffered from psychiatric disorders and women who suffered from sexual trauma have an increased risk of suffering from incontinence, specifically an overactive bladder or urge incontinence.

When the control group was compared with the women who suffered from incontinence, the women suffering from incontinence had much higher incidences of psychiatric disorders. In the group suffering from incontinence 64.5 percent of the women suffered from some type of psychiatric disorder; whereas in the control group only 25.9 percent of the women suffered from any sort of psychiatric disorder.

Again when the control group was compared to the women who had incontinence symptoms, the women with incontinence also reported a much higher incidence of sexual trauma. The group of women dealing with incontinence had 49.6 percent of the women reporting some sort of sexual trauma, while the control group only had 20.1 percent of the women reporting some kind of sexual trauma.

This is the first study, which looks at the association of psychiatric health or sexual trauma and urinary incontinence. The study was conducted by doctors at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, and the results were released online on October 22 well ahead of the study’s publication in the December issue of the Journal of Urology.

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Urge Urinary Incontinence Treated Successfully with Medical Therapy and Bladder Retraining

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

If you are experiencing a strong and sudden need to urinate, followed by your bladder contracting and urine leakage, then you are probably dealing with urge urinary incontinence. Your symptoms will include a distended or uncomfortable abdomen, the need to urinate frequently whether day or night, involuntary urine loss, and the sudden urgent need to urinate.

With these symptoms you should seek out medical help, because there are treatments that can help you. Once you have been properly diagnosed by a medical professional, treatments including bladder retraining and medical therapy are options for management or a cure.

While you can manage the bladder retraining, your doctor will have to prescribe any medical therapy that may be necessary. Bladder retraining is exactly what it sounds like, simply retraining your bladder to properly void. To start you will set a timer to urinate before your body gets the urge to void. With your timer, you will urinate every hour whether or not you feel that you need to. If you have to go sooner than an hour, try to hold it. After one week on the hour schedule, you will move your intervals to ninety minutes. The following week you will increase your intervals to two hours, followed by two and a half hours the next week, and finally followed by three hours the week after that.

Once you reach three hours, you will stay there and plan to urinate about every three hours, and while this process will take over a month to complete, it will be well worth your time.

If your doctor determines that you will need medical therapy for your urge incontinence, you will very likely be prescribed Ditropan, imipramine or Detrol. Each of these medicines works in conjunction with bladder retraining, and together the medical therapy coupled with the bladder retraining is very effective for dealing with urge urinary incontinence.

And as you are working through the solution to your problem, incontinence pads can free you from the worry of having urinary leakage in public. 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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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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Posture and Urinary Incontinence

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Posture and Urinary Incontinence

Do you remember how your mother always reminded you to stand up straight? And for just an instant you would engage all muscles, perk up straight as an arrow, and as soon as she was gone, so was your good posture. Well, as it turns out, once again, your mother really did know best.

If you have ever taken a pilates class there is much discussion about holding your spine in a neutral position. To do this you have to use your core muscles, or the tiny muscles along the spine. Sadly, in many people, these muscles are sorely underutilized, but the good news is that they can be rebuilt fairly quickly.

Subtle changes in your posture can dramatically affect all parts of your body including back, neck and knees. It can even affect your breathing, and when it comes to continence, it affects the tilt of your pelvis, which in turn determines the position of your internal organs. The bones of your pelvis are designed to help support your pelvic floor muscles, which keep you continent. However, if your back and pelvis are out of alignment, then your pelvic floor muscles are not getting the support that they need.

If you have extremely strong pelvic floor muscles, then you may be able to sneak by with poor posture, but as you age and your muscles weaken, you are destined for problems. Your good posture begins from the bottom and ends with your head and shoulders. Often, when someone catches themselves slouching, they straighten out their head and shoulders. To really stand up straight, you want to start where your feet hit the ground.

Make sure that you have equal weight on each foot. Close your eyes and feel how you are standing. Now slightly bend your knees, just enough so that they are not locked. Your pelvis should be straight, not tipping forward or backwards. You should notice that your midsection naturally tightened to hold your spine in place. Now put your hands on your head and move your elbows out over your shoulders. Then gently let your arms fall open to your side with your palms facing outward. This will align your head and shoulders.

Stand for a moment with your eyes closed and notice how this stance feels, because this is what your mother was talking about. So as you travel through your day and notice that you are slouching, take a minute to straighten yourself out. In time, good posture will become a habit, and the cards will be stacked in your favor for avoiding any unnecessary urinary incontinence as you age.

If you are already dealing with incontinence problems, improving your posture may help you regain proper urinary function, and while you and your health care professional work to solve your problem, you will want to get through your ordeal with the help of good quality incontinence products. DryForLife offers a discreet and completely confidential solution to all your incontinence needs. We have been providing quality incontinence products for over forty years, and we are here to help.

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Understanding the Cause of a Leaking Bladder

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

People of all ages can have problems with a leaking bladder. It doesn’t matter whether you are 22 or 82 years old it can happen to you. The causes may be somewhat different, but the emotional discomfort as well as physical is the same for all ages. Both men and women can have this problem. A leaking bladder is also known as urinary incontinence.

The number of women with leaking bladders in the UK is astounding. One study of 3,273 women reported that no less than 54% had problems with urinary incontinence or leaking bladder. The leaking of urine was from stress incontinence, urge incontinence or a combination of both. Stress incontinence occurs when you sneeze, cough, or lift something heavy causing uncontrolled leaking of urine. Urge incontinence occurs when the urge to urinate is frequent and urine leaks due to the inability to get to the bathroom quickly enough. The last type is mixed incontinence. This is a mixture of both the stress and the urge incontinence causing urine to leak.

The causes of a leaking bladder can be one or many different of things. One cause is simply the natural aging process. The muscle that is used to control the flow of urine from the bladder to the outside becomes weaker. As this muscle weakens a leaking bladder occurs for a lot of women.

Among the most frequent causes for a leaking bladder in women is pregnancy and childbirth. Women who may not have had problems with their bladder before pregnancy may have problems early into the pregnancy that continue throughout the pregnancy. The problem can last long after childbirth. Women who have large babies as well as those who may have had forceps used during delivery are at a higher risk for developing a leaking bladder.

Some other general causes for a leaking bladder are women who are overweight. Changes that are related to menopause can also cause problems with the bladder. Back injuries or injuries to the pelvis have been shown to be another cause for incontinence.

No matter what the cause of a leaking bladder may be, the anxiety and altered lifestyle can be difficult for anyone, young or old. The problem that is seen in the UK is that most women do not talk with their healthcare professional about the problems that they are having with their bladder. This may be due in part to embarrassment and anxiety.

Anyone can have problems with a leaking bladder. The causes are those that every woman can experience in their lives. Talking with a healthcare professional should be one of the first steps that women take in learning the possible cause of their incontinence. Your doctor can advise and help plan methods that can make your problem more manageable.

With the number of women with this problem there are many great products available to make life easier. DryForLife offers a discreet and completely confidential solution to all of your incontinence needs. Your concerns are very much our concerns; we have been providing incontinence products for over forty years, and we are here to help.

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Disclaimer - The research, clinical material and advice provided on this website is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for medical treatment, nor an alternative to medical advice. Any action taken in response to the information given on this website is at the reader's own discretion. Readers should always consult their own Doctor in all health matters. Please read our Terms and conditions. Copyright ©2003-2009 DryForLife®

Archive for the ‘Types of Incontinence’ Category

Leaking Bowels Can be a Lot to Manage

Urine Leak Becomes More Likely with Age

Bladder Problem is Common Condition

Understanding Mixed Urinary Incontinence

Urinary Incontinence and the Internet

Mental Health Related to Bladder Problems in Women

Urge Urinary Incontinence Treated Successfully with Medical Therapy and Bladder Retraining

Urinary Incontinence in Women Increases with Age

Posture and Urinary Incontinence

Understanding the Cause of a Leaking Bladder

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