Urinary incontinence happens when you lose control of your bladder or experience general bladder weakness. In some cases, you may empty your bladder’s contents completely. In other cases, you may experience only minor leakage. The condition may be temporary or chronic, depending on its cause.If you’re having trouble with incontinence, don’t hesitate to see your doctor. In many situations, incontinence can be eliminated. Even if the condition can’t be completely eliminated, modern products and ways of managing urinary incontinence can ease your discomfort and inconvenience.

Stress Incontinence

Stress incontinence refers to the leakage of urine when coughing, sneezing, laughing, lifting, jogging, or doing anything that causes the abdominal pressure transmitted to the bladder pressure to be stronger than the bladder’s closure mechanism (urethral sphincter).

Urge Incontinence

Urge incontinence is caused by sudden involuntary contraction of the bladder muscle and is associated with a strong desire to urinate and the inability to delay voiding long enough to get to a toilet. For this type, there is usually a small amount of urine loss at one time.

Overflow Incontinence

Overflow incontinence is the frequent leakage of urine without the urge to void or the inability to urinate normal volumes. The amount of urine that exceeds the bladder’s capacity leaks out, but the bladder remains full.

Total Incontinence

Total incontinence is the complete absence of control, either continuous leakage or periodic uncontrolled emptying of the bladder’s contents.

Remember! Incontinence is not a disease, it is a symptom of something else going on in the body, and should be discussed with a healthcare professional who is interested in and knowledgeable about incontinence. Incontinence can always be cured or treated or even managed successfully.

Most incontinence cases can be treated so there is no reason why you shouldn’t explore the treatment options out there. Some sufferers can often be too embarrassed to seek treatment, but did you know that millionsof people suffer some form of incontinence worldwide?

Generally, the type of incontinence (stress, overflow or urge) will dictate what kind of treatment you need. In many cases, a team of health care professionals will work with you to diagnose and offer treatment options. Together, you will choose the appropriate course of action. Remember, the first step is always to consult your health professional.

Generally, when treating incontinence it is best to start with small lifestyle changes, as these can often have a big impact on your incontinence without bringing major changes in how you live. If these amendments don’t help, talk to your doctor about medications.

Lifestyle changes: There are certain things you can change in your everyday routine to reduce the severity of the incontinence you may be suffering. Some of the changes you can make are:

• Cutting down on coffee, tea, chocolates and soft drinks. All these drinks are diuretics, which mean that they make you produce more urine than normal and make you more susceptible to bouts of incontinence

• Constipation can also put extra pressure on your bladder and pelvic floor muscles so make sure you have plenty of fresh fruit, veggies and fibre in your diet. These will help your digestive system work better and help you avoid constipation.

• Being overweight can put added pressure on your urinary system and this will increase the amount of incontinence you may suffer. Lead a healthy lifestyle and eat the right foods to help improve your health and your incontinence.

Incontinence aids: Using incontinence aids or products can help manage the symptoms of incontinence. Incontinence aids make suffering from incontinence less life changing as you can still partake in daily life without constantly running to the toilet. We provide a great range of aids in our Puffin and SecureXtra brands for men and women to help you manage any kind of incontinence.