Everything You Need to Know about Stress Urinary Incontinence
Stress urinary incontinence is a very common affection in both men and women, although it mostly affects the latter. Women experience stress urinary incontinence after giving birth (in this case, the symptoms will subside in time), or after the installation of menopause.
Even if it may seem embarrassing and stressful, this condition can be easily managed or even treated. Let’s learn a few essential things about stress urinary incontinence:
The Basics
Stress urinary incontinence is a condition that triggers the involuntary loss of urine. It can be caused by sudden movements (such as sneezing) or lifting heavy objects. Basically, anything that puts pressure on your bladder can cause loss of urine.
Be careful not to mistake this condition for urge incontinence, where the loss of urine is triggered by the contracting of bladder muscles. In this case, you a sense of urgency, which lacks in stress urinary incontinence.
How to Keep Stress Urinary Incontinence under Control
While these are not the causes of the condition and they do not represent a treatment, they can help you alleviate the symptoms:
- Quit smoking: smoking causes cough, which, in turn, can trigger the loss of urine.
- Keep your weight under control: the extra weight puts pressure on your bladder.
- Avoid high-impact physical exercises: if you’ve been practicing them for years, they may have contributed to your condition.
- Avoid alcohol and caffeine consumption, especially in public places: coffee is a diuretic and alcohol can loosen your pelvic muscles even more.
Seeking Treatment for Stress Urinary Incontinence
Depending of the gravity of your condition and its causes, your doctor can recommend you something as simple as Kegel exercises (to strengthen your pelvic muscles), or urethral inserts or pessaries. In more serious cases, you may need to undergo surgery. There is more than one type of surgery that can treat your stress urinary incontinence. Some of them can improve your sphincter closure, while others aim to support the neck of your bladder.
Please remember that it’s only your doctor who can prescribe the right treatment for your stress urinary incontinence. The doctor needs to learn more about you and your medical history, as well as to perform tests in order to come up with a suitable treatment.
If you want to treat your stress urinary incontinence in Barrie, Ontario, schedule your appointment at the Dr. Fefelova clinic. We have already helped hundreds if women live a carefree and happy life. Why not join them?
