Incontinence: Types and Tips!

Peeing yourself is never normal- whether its when you sneeze, when you are trying to make it to the toilet, or both!

The main types of incontinence are stress urinary incontinence( SUI) and urge incontinence (UI). SUI is leaking ( a little or a lot) of urine with any activity that increases the pressure in your abdominal cavity such as sneezing, coughing, laughing, jumping, running ect. There are many factors that can contribute to the development of symptoms. Some include poor coordination, strength or relaxation of pelvic floor muscles, damage to the pubocervical connective tissue, trauma during delivery, urethral hypermobility, smoking, chronic coughing, straining when having a bowel movement, or excessive weight gain. UI is getting a strong urge to pee but not being able to get to a toilet in time. Along with the factors that lead to SUI, UI could also be caused by neurological conditions, issues with the prostate or a urinary tract infection so it is important to have a medical examination if you experience UI. You may have both symptoms of UI and SUI which is termed mixed incontinence. Overactive bladder is another description of incontinence which includes urinary frequency ( going more than once every 2 hours), urinary urgency, and nocternia (getting up to pee in the night more than once). No matter what type of incontinence you have- it effects your life in more than just a physical way- it can hurt your confidence, affect your social life and your intimate life. The good news is- you do not have to just live with it, there are effective treatments, besides getting surgery.

Once medical reasons are ruled out, the first line of treatment is conservative management which includes lifestyle changes, pelvic floor physical therapy and/or pessaries. In pelvic floor physical therapy, treatment may include pelvic floor muscle strengthening, relaxation, coordination training, optimizing your body's ability to manage pressure, and strengthening surrounding musculature. Lifestyle changes may include altering your fluid intake (reducing fluid is usually NOT the answer), limit bladder irritants, bladder retraining, weight loss, manage constipation, or ceasing smoking, among others.

What can you do to help?

For specific help tailored to you I recommend you see a pelvic floor physical therapist. But here are some simple ways you can begin to retrain your bladder and reduce the urgency.

1. Sip water throughout the day instead of chugging

Drinking too much fluid causes your kidneys to produce urine at a very fast rate, increasing the chance you will have a bladder spasm.

1. Reduce Caffeine intake

For some people caffeine can cause bladder spasms to be much stronger than usual and occur at smaller bladder volumes than they normally would. Reducing your caffeine may reduce the degree to which you experience urgency and leakage on your way to the toilet. It is important to note however, if you currently consume a large amount of caffeine it is important to reduce your intake gradually so that you do not experience headaches etc.

1. Stop going just in case

Going to the bathroom “ just in case” overtime can train your bladder to empty at smaller and smaller volumes. Don’t go unless you feel the urge to go. Times where is it okay to go “just in case” include before and after sex, before bed or if you are going on a car trip where there will be no access to a bathroom for more than your average void interval ( time between peeing).