What is urinary incontinence?

Urinary incontinence, also known as loss of Bladder control is a common ailment. Hundreds of people in India are suffering from these perils with the number of women being almost double that of men.

There are many causes that can lead to urinary incontinence including stress, pregnancy, or coughing. People with obesity issues are more prone to having this problem of urinary incontinence.

While the problem may happen to anyone, it is more common in people of older age.

What are the types of urinary incontinence?

Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)

One of the major reasons for urinary leakage, stress makes the pelvic floor muscles weak enough that they are unable to support the bladder and urethra the way they should. Simple things like, coughing, sneezing, bending, lifting, straining, or even laughing, can cause the bladder to leak.

Overactive Bladder (OAB)

This is a condition in which a person gets the urge to urinate frequently and usually associated with a sudden strong urge to void. This condition is common for people suffering from diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or stroke.

Overflow Incontinence

In this case, the person’s bladder stays full, unable to empty itself due to underlying causes, it overflows and leaks. Similar to overactive bladder, this is common among people with diabetes, neurological disorders and/or a non-functional, underactive bladder. Men with prostate related problems also tend to suffer from this type of incontinence.

Mixed Incontinence

It is not necessary that a person will have only one type of incontinence. Many people show signs of more than one type of incontinence. For instance, people leak urine both with strong physical activity (SUI) AND have a strong uncontrollable sense of urgency (OAB.) This type of case is referred to as mixed urinary incontinence.

Symptoms of Urinary Incontinence:

• Occasional leakage of urine
• Incontinence caused by stress
• The sudden sharp urge to urinate
• Frequent bedwetting or clothes wetting
• Overflow incontinence
• Mixed incontinence
• Functional incontinence

Causes of Urinary Incontinence

While there are many lifestyle factors or underlying causes that can cause Urinary incontinence. Here are some major ones:

• Excessive intake of alcohol
• Drinking lots of carbonated drink
• Excessive intake of caffeine
• Having a diet with a high concentration of spices, sugar, and acids.
• Intake of Vitamin B and C supplements
• Childbirth or pregnancy
• Menopause
• Prostate cancer
• Obstruction in the urinary tract
• Neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, brain tumor, or spinal injuries
• Urinary tract infection
• Constipation

Urinary incontinence can be prevented, by performing pelvic floor exercises, avoiding caffeine and acidic food, maintaining a healthy weight, and consuming a diet rich in fibrous food

Urinary incontinence might be an embarrassing situation for many people, but it’s inevitable.

People suffering from UI should get medical help to stop the condition from getting worse.

Get doctor’s advice through teleconsultation, give us a call at 01142255201/202 or mail at info@isiconline.org, appointment@isiconline.org. For more information, visit, www.isiconline.org