Urinary incontinence is the result of the problems behind the pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor is made of muscles that needs some exercise attention like the rest of our body. It can go weak or loose shape depending on the pressure it takes. The 2 most important functions we know and familiar with is that it keeps our bladder & bowel closed until we can get to use the toilet and the other one is for sex. lower back pain

Basically if your pelvic muscle is weak then you loose your sensation and you get poor orgasmic response. One of our most important muscles that needs training and it goes beyond incontinence because it also affects us sexually. When sensation is lost then sex appetite will be a thing of the past.

Incontinence simply put is when you pee on yourself accidentally with difficulty holding it back. It can be so bad even during a cough or sneeze urine can leak involuntarily. At times the urge is so sudden & strong with no chance to get to the toilet. Women suffer more from incontinence that men due to factors like pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause  that may contribute. Weak bladder muscles, overactive bladder muscles, and nerve damage may also be other factors that causes urinary incontinence in women. These are the issues that women keep to themselves because they feel embarrassed. It is not age matter but It does affect older women more making age a risk factor as well as being obese can worsen It. Other risk factors include smoking, diabetes and family history.

We have different kinds of incontinence which are overflow, urge, stress and functional incontinence.

–Overflow incontinence is when your experience frequent urinary due to the bladder that doesn’t empty completely. Blockage of the urethra(tube through which urinary leaves the body),  or weak bladder contraction.

–Urge incontinence is the sudden intense urge to urinate followed by involuntary loss of urine or leakage of urine before getting to the toilet and urinating more often even throughout the night. It is an overactive bladder problem.

–Stress incontinence happens when you put pressure on the bladder by lifting heavy things, exercising, laughing, coughing and sneezing. Poor closure of the bladder.

–Functional incontinence is due to mental or physical complications /conditions that makes it difficult to reach or use the toilet. It can also be due to medications.

Women especially elderly ones can suffer from mixed urinary incontinence and the most common being the urge and stress urinary incontinence. Stress is caused by pelvic support damage as the result of childbirth. Pregnant women can experience transient incontinence which is temporary and subsequently resolves after giving birth. Some sexually active women can experience coital incontinence during masturbation, penetration and orgasm.

It is a medical problem yet improvement or solution can be found without surgery or medical treatment. Lifestyle changes, bladder training recommended for urge incontinence or Kegel exercises for stress incontinence can stop urinary incontinence or ease the discomfort. Lifestyle changes may be quitting smoking, change of diet or going ease on certain food or drinks like coffee or caffeinated drinks, spicy or acidic food, artificial sweeteners, carbonated drinks, large does of vitamin C,  sparkling water and alcohol. Urinary incontinence can also be a symptom for medical conditions such as urinary tract infection and constipation which can be easily treatable.

How to correctly do pelvic floor/Kegel exercise:
-Empty the bladder then have a sit or lie down
-Hold tight your pelvic floor muscles and count 3 to 5 seconds
-Relax the muscles and count another 3 to 5 seconds
-Repeat the above steps 10 times in a row and 3 times a day

Tips to train right muscles:
If you also squeeze your bums muscles you’re doing it wrong because they should remain relaxed together with your thighs and abdomen and no holding breath.

•To check if you are doing the right thing, when you use the toilet start to urinate the stop and when stopping you should be able to feel the bladder, vagina or the anus get tight and moving up and if you feel them then you are doing it right.

•If you have difficulty with that simply insert you finger in the vagina and do as if you’re trying to hold back urine and let go, you should be able to feel the right muscles. P.s do not make a habit of this because it leads to incomplete emptying of the bladder & a risk of urinary track infection.

•or when passing gas try to hold and feel which muscles contract.

Kegel exercises can be done while you work, lying down or sitting while watching TV, driving or anytime you are relaxed. They will also tighten the vagina and help if you also leak stool.

Here is step by step technique for bladder training:
-Keep track on the times you urinate & leak urine during the day for at least 2 days

-Calculate how many hours on average do you wait between urinations 

-After calculating select an interval for your training by adding more minutes to your typical interval. If your interval is 45minutes then add 15minutes to make it an hour.

-Start by emptying the bladder first thing in the morning and wait for an hour that you set before you urinate. If you don’t feel the urge in an hour do go anyway but If the urge comes before an hour fight to hold back. Remind yourself that your bladder is not full is just overactive. If the urge is too much try to hold back another 5minutes before slowly making your way to the bathroom or start doing pelvic floor exercise or try to relax. Try harder to go at those scheduled times.

-Start to gradually increase your interval with another 15minutes as soon as you are comfortable with the set ones and increase weekly. It will only be a matter of few weeks before you are able to see improvement or on average about 3 months should be adequate. This will work for each woman’s need individually as desired.

Do not be discouraged by setbacks, your may have good and bad days and you will be the best judge as to how to increase your intervals. Stick to doing Kegel exercise daily for greater results & healthier bladder.

PREVENTION
Stop smoking, eat less spicy food and avoid alcohol, caffeinated and carbonated drinks. Continue doing pelvic floor exercises and bladder training. 

Bladder symptoms affect women of all ages however it affect older ones more. Though extremely less percentage, it happens with children whereby it is twice as common in girls as in boys. Men are less affected because of their urinary tract structure and it also affect older men more that younger ones. Do not hesitate to seek medical help or advice because medical professionals are there to assist not to make you feel embarrassed.  Urinary incontinence also known as involuntary urination can be a simple to severe case.

*WE CANNOT TRADE IN OUR BODIES BUT WE CAN GROW COURAGE TO RECTIFY WHAT IT LACKS ON WITHOUT FEAR OF JUDGEMENT*