Working with all women, urinary incontinence is a weekly topic.
While men are not immune, mostly women suffer from this condition. Studies show that up to 43% of women age 37-54 experience some form of UI (NIH).
It’s not just an inconvenience; it can impact a woman’s confidence, social activities, and overall quality of life. The good news? There are solutions.
Urinary incontinence (UI) is any time there is unwanted loss of urine and there are several categories.
Understanding the type of incontinence you’re experiencing is the first step to managing it.
- Stress Incontinence – Leaking when coughing, sneezing, laughing, or exercising causes greater pressure than the muscles around the pelvic floor can handle.
- Urge Incontinence – Feeling a sudden, strong urge to urinate or all of a sudden you have the urge and you have to go right now.
- Mixed Incontinence – A combination of stress and urge incontinence.
How to Reduce and Manage UI
You don’t have to accept bladder leakage as a normal part of aging. Here are practical steps you can take:
Fix Lifestyle Habits: Address constipation, posture
- Drink enough water- you may need to add electrolytes to make sure the water is getting into the cells of your body. Concentrated urine in the bladder acts as an irritant. Being hydrated also helps avoid constipation, which is a factor in UI.
- Eat 25-35 grams of fiber daily – for gut health and reduce constipation
- Exercise daily
- Use a squatty potty – be a “polite” potty sitter and don’t slouch.
- Stand up tall! Posture makes a difference because alignment influences pelvic floor function.
Know bladder irritants and behaviors
Food, drink and habits can irritate your bladder.
Watch What You Drink
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- Reduce caffeine, alcohol, and carbonated drinks, as they can irritate the bladder.
- Consider writing in a journal to notice patterns. Write down what you eat and drink, what you are doing and how often you need to pee or have symptoms.
Bladder Training
- Talk to your bladder and let it know who is boss. Hahaha, I know this sounds weird, but the bladder is an organ susceptible to suggestion. Start telling it “No! I just went 30 minutes ago and haven’t even had 10 oz. to drink. There’s no way I have to go again.” Something to that effect.This technique has been shown to improve control in women with urge incontinence .
- Avoid peeing “just in case” Did your mother ever tell you to go before you left the house so you wouldn’t have to use a public restroom? Lot’s of moms did this and unknowingly trained their children to have urge incontinence.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
Losing even 5-10% of body weight can significantly reduce UI symptoms, according to research from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Try exercises: Kegels are not the only exercise.
Here’s a video from Kim Vopni, The Vagina Coach, that you may find useful.
Urinary incontinence is common, but it’s also treatable. Simple changes like pelvic floor exercises, lifestyle adjustments, and bladder training can make a big difference.
A pelvic floor specialist can help to. There are many in the area and your insurance company may pay for those visits, so be sure to check into that.