Urinary incontinence can also be described frequently as urinary leakage. This can be something which occurs in men and women, however statistically, it shows 80% of these are women.

Common Symptoms Of Urinary Incontinence

• Strong urge to urinate
  
  
• Urinating more during the day
  
  
• Urinating more during the night
  
  
• Weak / slow stream
  
  
• Leaking of urine when sneezing / coughing / exercise
  
  
• Having accidents throughout the day / night

What are the 3 types of urinary incontinence?

1. Stress: This is leakage during coughing, sneezing or exercising. This is most common during pregnancy or post-natal.
   
   
2. Urgency: This is leakage which usually has symptoms of a strong feeling to urinate which is sometimes difficult to stop, and likely results of someone rushing to the toilet. This is most common as we age.
   
   
3. Mixed: This is a mixture of stress and urgency incontinence.

What are the causes of urinary incontinence?

Typically, these are the main causes of incontinency:

Pregnancy
During pregnancy, we release a hormone called Relaxin. This allows for our muscles and ligaments to relax and stretch while the baby grows allowing our body to adapt ready for labour. During pregnancy, the baby is pushing down onto our pelvic floor muscles and ligaments which are already weakened due to this hormone which may result in leakage.

Child birth
During child birth, our bodies are under immense pressure when pushing down during labour resulting in our pelvic floor muscles to weaken and the possibility of the nerve which controls the bladder to be damaged.

Menopause
During menopause, our body produces much lower levels of a hormone called oestrogen. This decline within this hormone can result in the pelvic floor muscles becoming looser and thinner due to loosing elasticity.

Addition causes of incontinence can be from the following:

• Caffeine
  
  
• Urinary tract infections (UTI)
  
  
• Medications such as diuretics
  
  
• Neuromuscular disorders such as Parkinson’s, MS
  
  
• Chronic constipation

How can we treat Urinary incontinence?

Each individual depending on symptoms can be managed in specific ways, below is a number of ways which we may be able to help you.

1. Lifestyle: Looking weight, quitting smoking, decreasing caffeine intake.
   
   
2. Bladder re-training: Increasing the time between urinating, and controlling the urges to go to the toilet.
   
   
3. Toilet positioning
   
   
4. Exercises: This can include pelvic floor exercises and exercises to improve muscle function
   within the core and lower limb.

Each individual is different and will have a tailored treatment plan to assist in over-coming your urinary incontinence.

Book your assessment in now with our Women’s Health Physiotherapist to see how we can assist you.