How Can Incontinence Affect Your Life?

1. How can incontinence affect your life? Urinary incontinence is an involuntary loss of urine, a distressing condition that can have a major impact on your quality of life. People suffering from urinary incontinence deal with inconvenience, discomfort, and often embarrassment. They feel shy or awkward to mention the urine leakages. This often leads to social isolation and withdrawal, and consequently has a negative impact on their overall quality of life. Living with incontinence should not be a burden. There are many things you can do to prevent incontinence from being scary or encumbrance. Start by ensuring you know the things to do to regain bladder control and enjoy your day again. You are not alone! If you suffer from incontinence, know you are not alone! In Australia, an estimated 3.85 million men and women have urinary incontinence, yet up to 70% of people with urinary leakage don't seek advice and treatment for their problem. Whether you simply leak a few drops when sneezing or laughing, have a sudden urge to urinate but don’t make the toilet in time, or leak most of the time, urinary incontinence affects people in different ways. Why does incontinence occur?

2. Incontinence is not just a problem for older people. There are many causes of urinary incontinence, the most known being pregnancy, childbirth, menopause and obesity. Continence problems can also be affected by chronic health conditions such as a neurological condition, multiple sclerosis, stroke and Parkinson’s Disease. While women are twice as likely as men to experience urinary incontinence, incontinence isn't an unavoidable part of getting older. Incontinence occurs due to problems with muscles and nerves that help to hold or release urine. During urination, bladder muscles tighten to move the urine stored there into the urethra. The sphincter muscles around the urethra relax simultaneously so that urine can leave the body. When these muscles relax without warning or the sphincter muscles aren't strong enough to retain urine, incontinence will occur. Damage to these muscles may also result in leakage as there's less pressure than usual. Take charge of urinary incontinence The upside is that there are things you can do to manage urinary incontinence and regain bladder control. In this way, you can prevent it from making everyday life a misery. Talk to your GP Maybe there are medical factors that can cause or worsen your incontinence: uncontrolled diabetes, bladder infections, constipation, certain medication or menopausal changes. Just to name a few. Your GP can take care of this by identifying and treating these issues.

3. Plan forward A crucial aspect of living with urinary incontinence is to plan ahead, as this will make things easier and less stressful. Successful planning starts with assessing your specific situation and then working out strategies to deal with the most likely scenarios. Tips to cope better While you're treating urinary incontinence, there are many simple tips that can help you cope better in various situations at work, while socialising or doing some physical activity: Bladder training: schedule times to go to the toilet about every two to three hours. This technique, called timed voiding, is important as it helps to keep the bladder empty. Don’t wait until your bladder feels full! -When you intend to leave home or work, use the toilet, even if you don’t think you need to. Go before leaving home, when arriving to your destination or before travelling in a car/bus in order to prevent accidents. -When you're in the bathroom, take your time. When you have finished urinating, relax for a while and then urinate again. Double voiding ensures you empty your bladder completely. -Toilet alert. When out shopping, dining in a restaurant, find out where the toilets are located. This is especially important if you're going to an unfamiliar public area. Watch what you drink: some fluids may worsen urinary incontinence. Limit caffeinated or acidic beverages like coffee, tea and carbonated drinks, sugar-filled cordial with preservatives and cut down your alcohol

4. intake. It is, however, important to keep well hydrated, so try to drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Watch what you eat: have a more fibre-rich diet. This will help smooth bowel movement and less stress on your pelvic floor. If you notice that certain foods make your urinary incontinence worse, cut them out of your diet if possible. Loose the extra weight. There's a strong link between obesity and incontinence. Extra abdominal fat increases pressure on the abdomen and pushes down on the bladder. If you're overweight, follow a sensible eating and exercise plan to lose weight. Research has found that obese women who lose just 10% of their body mass, reduce the risk of incontinence episodes by 50%. Stop smoking. With some studies showing that smokers have more frequent and severe urine leaks, it might be yet another good reason to stop smoking. This is especially true if you tend to cough during smoking, as it may exacerbate leakage. Practise strict hygiene: avoid odour by washing frequently, regularly changing pads and using a deodoriser. Also remember to regularly wash soiled clothing and underwear. Use skin body lotion or a skin barrier cream to protect your skin from incontinence associated dermatitis or diapers’ rash. Sufficient back-up: always make sure you have back-up incontinence supplies whenever you go out. These could include spare pads, underwear, skin care tissues , deodorised bags, incontinence pull up pants, deodoriser, and a plastic bag to dispose of pads, soiled underwear or clothing.

5. Social outings Planning ahead and being prepared can ensure that you enjoy social activities and outings. Here are some tips: If you're going to a show or movie with friends, always try to sit on the edge of the row of seats, not in the middle, so that you can get out easily if you need to go to the toilet. Go to the toilet before the show or movie starts. Manage urine leakage by wearing disposable pads and keeping extra ones in your handbag. When eating out in a restaurant, try to get a table near the toilets, and choose a seat that makes it easy for you to move in and out. Coping at work Limit coffee breaks: avoid drinking coffee several times a day, as caffeine-rich beverages may make you urinate more. Also remember to time your beverage breaks, and don’t swig a cup of tea or coffee just before going into an important meeting. Prompt your toilet visits: set an alarm to remind you to go to the toilet every 90 minutes or every two hours, whether you feel the urge or not. Timed urination helps you to have better control, instead of letting urges determine your toilet habits.

6. Remember your medication: if your GP has given you medication for urinary incontinence, take it as prescribed, keep some at work and if necessary, set a reminder so that you don’t forget to take it when you’re busy. Have a supply of incontinence products: find out about the various incontinence products such as absorbent pads or disposable underwear, odour-eliminating products and skin care wipes that you can store in a desk drawer or cupboard. Exercise Don’t let urinary incontinence dominate your life. If you've always been active and enjoy exercise, don’t stop completely even if it results in leakage. Work out which exercises make you leak more and try to modify or swop them with others that won’t. For example, instead of jogging, you could walk, or instead of doing a strenuous cardio workout, you could try aqua aerobics. You may find that you can do an exercise activity for a certain period before you start leaking. Go to the toilet before you start exercising. Consider wearing a more absorbent continence pad during exercise. If you only leak when coughing, sneezing or exercising, you may try an incontinence pull up pants Conclusion

7. Urinary incontinence is a very common condition, impacting an estimated 3.8 million people in Australia. While incontinence as such may not be a life- threatening condition, it is an unpleasant journey as it affects the person’s quality of life. People stay at home and avoid social contacts due to embarrassment and stigma that surrounds the condition. Luckily there are quite a few tips and tricks that can help you living a better life. Many of the impacts on your daily life can be prevented by understanding what it is and finding a solution that is right for you. There is a large range of products in the market that can help you manage urinary incontinence with ease. This will make your journey hopefully a little less stressful. Visit: https://www.bettercaremarket.com.au/