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There are three main types of bladder
weakness:
·
Unexpected leakage, known as stress
incontinence, which may occur through laughing,
coughing, sneezing or taking exercise. Women of
all ages report that laughing is the most common reason
for stress incontinence.
·
Overflow, which is when the bladder does not
empty completely, so that urine builds up and may
eventually dribble out as though it were overflowing.
·
Urge incontinence, a strong and sudden
urge to pass urine. Here, the bladder tries to empty
itself in spite of efforts to restrain leakage.
And now a few statistics:
·
Bladder weakness affects over four million men and
women of all ages in the UK.
·
A quarter of all women over the age of 35 have
experienced bladder weakness.
·
Only 46 per cent of adults of both sexes and all ages
who suffer from bladder problems talk to their GP, and
most of the rest don’t seek any help if their bladders
leak.
·
As many as 42 per cent of all women who are incontinent
in the UK wait fifteen years before seeking treatment.
·
54 per cent of women aged 24-64 say laughing caused
urine incontinence.
Well over a million people in this country use the
wrong product for their particular incontinence
problem. No wonder that comments such as ‘I haven’t
gone out for nine years for fear of wetting someone’s
chair or car seat’ are unfortunately all too common.
Where to get help
Bladder weakness can often be easily treated and
managed. If you visit your GP or nurse, and the problem
is mild bladder incontinence, you are likely to be told
to do pelvic floor exercises, sometimes known as
Kegel exercises. These can help to strengthen
weakened pelvic floor muscles and thus to avoid
leakage. Physiotherapists are available to teach
the exercises through the NHS.
What are pelvic floor exercises?
Imagine you are trying to stop the flow of
urine. You squeeze the relevant muscles for about
ten seconds three times a day. Then follow with
ten quick contractions. To get the feeling, you
could try when actually passing urine.
Do they work? Yes, but only if they are performed
regularly. About a third of women advised to do them
give up through lack of motivation. (Men can
suffer stress incontinence too, and can also benefit
from pelvic floor exercises.)
New drugs and treatments
If you do give up
on pelvic floor exercises, there are several new
treatments becoming available. Emselex has been
shown to improve overactive bladder symptoms
without causing side effects. Zuidex is a gel that
can be injected into the wall of the
urethra. There are hopes for a form of the
antidepressant, Duloxetine, to be licensed this
year.
Websites
The Continence Foundation – for general information and
how to find your local clinic:
www.continence-foundation.org.uk
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy – for
practitioners specialising in stress
incontinence:
www.acpwh.org.uk
If in any doubt
about any of the information covered in articles and
it's relevance for you, consult your
GP.
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