Questions of what to do with urinary incontinence in women arise in the fair sex both at a young and old age. If girls have such a problem after a difficult birth, then in adulthood it is due to menopause. Because of it, the production of the hormone estrogen, which is important for women, is responsible for the elasticity of tissues, the muscular and ligamentous apparatus of the pelvic floor. As a result, the tone of the urethra decreases. This provokes uncontrolled urination even with minimal stress. Such a nuisance can happen when coughing or sneezing. In this article, you will learn about the causes of this condition, symptoms and treatments.
Types of incontinence
If you know what to do with urinary incontinence in women, you will be able to recognize the problem in time and take the necessary measures. There are many ways to deal with this nuisance. The main thing is to do everything in a timely manner. In this case youyou can quickly cope with this condition, do without negative consequences for your body.
Scientifically female urinary incontinence is called incontinence. This condition doctors conditionally divided into three types depending on the symptoms that appear. Let's look at each of them below.
The first type is stress incontinence. It occurs only with an increase in intra-abdominal pressure. It can be triggered by sports, weight lifting, sex, and even stressful things like coughing, sneezing, and laughing that may seem minor at first glance.
The second type is urge incontinence. In this case, the woman has an urge to urinate, which she is unable to overcome. In some cases, she does not even have time to react. It is very difficult to predict such conditions, since the bladder may not be full at all.
Finally, the third type is mixed. It combines the two previous varieties of this disease.
The most important thing, whatever type is diagnosed, is to know what to do with urinary incontinence in women. At the same time, in no case should you be nervous, since stress in all cases turns into one of the causes of the pathology.
Symptoms
As a rule, it is not difficult to detect this disease. The most important symptom is the involuntary leakage of various portions of urine. In addition to these types, enuresis is also found. These involuntary acts of urination predominantly occur during sleep. They don't have a genderattachments and begin in childhood.
Due to involuntary urination, a woman's emotional and psychological irritability increases, which worsens her general well-being and exacerbates the problem. Against this background, various unpleasant complications can develop. The most dangerous of them will be psychosomatic diseases.
Reasons
What to do with urinary incontinence in women depends on the reasons for which she had this problem. In some cases, the elimination of provoking factors helps, if not completely get rid of the disease, then significantly alleviate the patient's condition. It is worth noting that most of the reasons associated with the development of this disease are directly related to overwork and nervous tension.
Among the causes of this condition at a young age, as a rule, there are traumatic and difficult births. It is one of the key factors in stress incontinence. This disease is affected not only by the rupture of the soft tissues of the perineum, but also by overstretching of the pelvic muscles.
Among the provoking factors of stress incontinence are overweight. If you try to bring kilograms back to normal, then the condition will improve significantly.
Gynecological operations can also lead to incontinence. In particular, the removal of tumors on the ovaries or uterus.
Urinary incontinence in women over 40 in most cases appears due to hormonal changes associated with menopause. Due to insufficient elasticity of the muscles, the sphincter is weakened. Muscles weaken with age, we have to admit that thisan inevitable process that affects everyone sooner or later. Of course, fundamental changes in the female body, as a rule, come later. In this case, it is more relevant to talk about urinary incontinence in women 50 years and older. But for some, hormonal disruptions occur at a relatively early age.
It's no secret that urinary incontinence in women over 40, and at other ages, is more common than in men. This is influenced by the structure of the female body. The fact is that the urethra of the fairer sex has a length of only three to four centimeters. At this time, in men, its size varies from 24 to 30 centimeters. At the same time, in women it is much wider (from six to ten millimeters), against four to seven millimeters in the representatives of the stronger sex. It is for this reason that the pelvic muscles are so important for women. Otherwise, urine flows out of the bladder faster and easier through a wide and short urinary canal.
Finally, urge incontinence is associated with a woman's neurogenic or overactive bladder syndrome. With this type of disease, an unforeseen situation can occur at the most unexpected moment, even if the patient, knowing about such a problem, visits the toilet at every opportunity and deliberately reduces the amount of fluid consumed. Once in this position, a woman constantly has to be in close proximity to the ladies' room. She begins to be internally psychologically afraid of being without the opportunity to visit her, since the urgeoccur with enviable regularity - every 1.5-2 hours. The cause of urinary incontinence in women after 40 years in this case lies in neurology. Moreover, the disease can manifest itself at any other age. The root of evil should be sought in damage to the spine or traumatic brain injury, in some cases, such consequences turn into a stroke. Another cause of urge incontinence is a urinary tract infection. In this case, having cured her, the woman will be able to forget about her trouble forever.
Therefore, it is so important to figure out what caused it at the first signs of a disease. In this case, together with the attending physician, it will be possible to determine one or another method of effective therapy.
Non-pharmacological methods
After the exact cause of the disease is established, treatment should be started immediately. In some cases, you can manage not only without surgery, but even without pills. Of course, non-drug methods are effective only in case of complications after childbirth or hormonal disruptions. If the cause is a tumor disease or genitourinary infection, these methods will remain powerless. Before starting exercises for the pelvic muscles, be sure to consult with a specialist. The doctor will advise which set of exercises is best for you, based on the severity of the disease and the characteristics of the body.
The main non-drug methods with which you can get rid of incontinence - sets of exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor, physiotherapy.
An accurate voiding plan will help train your bladder. Its implementation will need to be learned, but it is quite realistic, especially if you act under the guidance of a doctor. Gradually, the intervals between urination will need to be increased, over time, it will be possible to finally get rid of urinary incontinence for a woman after 60 years.
The principle of training is based on the fact that the representatives of the weaker sex, who have such a problem, eventually develop certain stereotypes of visiting the toilet. They tend to go a little, even if there is no urge yet, or it is very weak. So to speak, in reserve or for prevention, in order to avoid embarrassment in the future.
Adhering to the plan drawn up with the doctor, a woman should make an effort to restrain the urge. The intervals between each urination are recommended to be increased every week by about 30 minutes, until they reach a duration of three to three and a half hours. With urinary incontinence in an elderly woman, this will help her change the erroneous stereotype of behavior, developing a fundamentally new one. In most cases, training should be accompanied by conservative drug therapy, which you can find below. Medicines are taken for three months.
Muscle training
You should also pay attention to training the muscles of the pelvic floor. This method is becoming the key to success in the prevention and treatment of urinary incontinence in women over 60.
At the same timeonly a few consciously work on the muscles of the pelvis, although this is a very effective method. It is generally accepted that this is the most effective prevention of this condition, which you can think of. For example, Kegel exercises help.
Besides them, we must not forget about physiotherapy. With this method, you can strengthen the muscles, making the ligaments more elastic. An important role in this is played by the regulation of the blood supply to the small pelvis. For this, there are several types of physiotherapeutic effects - heating, microcurrents, electromagnetic impulses.
Kegel Exercises
When performing this set of exercises, it is important to eliminate the tension of other muscle groups - hips, buttocks, and the abdominal cavity. You need to perform exercises systematically, the effect will come in one to one and a half months. They will help cope with urinary incontinence in women in their 60s.
The main complex consists of only five exercises.
- "Hold". Contract the muscles for five to ten seconds, and then gradually relax. Rest, and then do three to five sets of ten reps. The duration of the muscle hold should be gradually increased to ten seconds.
- "Elevator". Imagine that you are in an elevator going up and down. Tighten your muscles during the imaginary ascent, and when you reach the very top, slowly relax, stopping at each floor.
- "Reduction". Vigorously contract the muscles for five seconds, relax them and rest for another five seconds. Do three to five reps for ten sets.
- "Waves". Performing this exercise, you should use not only the muscles of the vagina, but also the anus. Start contracting the muscles of the vagina, and after the anus. Relax them in the same order. The duration of contractions after training should be 10-20 seconds.
- "Positioning". This exercise is best for pregnant women. Before doing it, you need to clean the intestines. Hold your breath, push, and then repeat the same exercise in several poses - sitting, lying, on all fours, squatting.
Medication methods
Medicinal methods demonstrate high efficiency, especially in case of urgent form. To treat this type of incontinence, doctors prescribe antidepressants and antispasmodics to patients.
According to reviews, with urinary incontinence in women, the drug "Driptan" has proven itself well. It helps to relax the muscles of the bladder, while eliminating impulses that come from nerve cells that stimulate to go to the toilet.
"Driptan" - pills for urinary incontinence in women, contributing to an increase in the volume of the bladder, relieving imperative urges that the patient was previously unable to cope with. As a result, she needs to go to the toilet much less frequently. It is worth noting that the full effect of tablets for urinary incontinence in women will appear after a monthly course. But do not take the medicine yourself. Each doctor determines the specific dose for the patient individually, based on her anatomical features and he alth status.
Surgery
In some cases, surgical intervention is indispensable. As a rule, the operation has to be done in the case when there is a stress form of incontinence. Sometimes the operation is done with an urgent form. Young patients are advised to refuse the help of a surgeon, limiting themselves to conservative treatment.
In general, there are currently about 250 different methods of surgical intervention to help overcome stress incontinence. Most of these methods are used on the territory of the Russian Federation. Including operations are done in a minimally invasive way. The operation of throwing a loop of synthetic fabric is common. The recovery time after such an operation is minimal. In most cases, the woman is able to go home the very next day.
85% of patients after such a surgical intervention return to a full life. The only risk factor that arises is the danger of getting cystitis due to hypothermia.
As you can see, there are many ways to help get rid of this problem. The main thing is to know what to do for an elderly woman with urinary incontinence.
Hygiene
If you are faced with such a problem, you need to remember about hygiene products. Facilitate socializationurological pads. They will make this trouble invisible to others.
In pharmacies there is a large selection of urological pads that effectively neutralize odor and absorb liquid. The main requirements for pads are to ensure the dryness of the surface, the ability to retain and absorb secretions, bacterial safety and anatomical conformity.
Many women are embarrassed to seek help with such a delicate problem, postponing a visit to the doctor for far-fetched reasons. Under no circumstances should this be done. The sooner you seek help, the sooner you can deal with the problem and prevent possible complications.
Instead of a conclusion
In the end, it is worth noting that female urinary incontinence is the same medical problem as any other disease. There is nothing shameful or reprehensible in it.
Its causes lie in violations of some body functions, this can be effectively eliminated in various ways. After childbirth, a woman must definitely consult a urologist and gynecologist, pass all the necessary tests to make sure that everything is in order with her he alth. It is worth doing this even if there is no urinary incontinence.
In older people, this disease is considered one of the signs of the inevitable aging of the body. In any case, there is always a solution, regardless of age. It is important to bear in mind that effectiveness directly depends on the timely appeal for help. The sooner you come to the doctor, the more productive you will be able to achieve.
