bag on woman's head

Women’s Urinary Incontinence – Overcoming Embarrassment

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary IncontinenceResources and AppsUrinary Incontinence

bag on woman's headIf you are a woman suffering from urinary incontinence, here are three things you should know:

  1. Only about 50% of women with urinary incontinence ever seek help
  2. Embarrassment is one of the primary reasons preventing these women from asking for help
  3. According to the Agency of Healthcare Research and Policy, urinary incontinence can be improved in 8 out of 10 cases

Does this sound crazy to you?

Why Urinary Incontinence is Embarrassing
Despite the fact that urinary incontinence affects more people than conditions like diabetes or Alzheimer’s, half of all women with urinary incontinence won’t seek help. Those who do seek help wait, on average, almost seven years. Why?

In a recent seminar co-sponsored by the National Association for Continence, experts discussed how cultural taboos prevent people from talking about this topic. These experts explained how shame is associated with bathroom issues from an early age, during the potty-training stage. Young children are taught that they are either “good girls” or “bad girls,” depending on whether they “performed” well in potty training.

Years later, the same “good girl” and “bad girl” language subconsciously haunts women, and keeps them from discussing their problems of urinary incontinence with healthcare providers.

How to Overcome the Embarrassment
While discussing urinary incontinence is embarrassing for many women, there are ways to overcome that emotion. After all, most of us have learned to overcome embarrassment about other situations in our life, why not about urinary incontinence? If you are ready to get over your embarrassment and get help, here are two simple steps you can take:

Discuss Your Situation with the Right Person
Chat with a close woman friend who has had urinary incontinence and sought help. Not only will she understand and sympathize with your situation, but she will be able to offer you guidance and advice based on her own experiences. You need not feel embarrassed talking to someone who has had the same experiences as you.

Learn More About Your Condition
Knowledge is power. Learning more about urinary incontinence gives you the knowledge and power you need to ask for help from a healthcare provider. Learn more about the different kinds of urinary incontinence and the available treatment options. Knowledge about your condition helps you understand that there are solutions available, and gives you the words you need to comfortably discuss your condition with your doctor.

People say that it’s never too late to have a happy childhood. We say that it’s never too early to seek help for your urinary incontinence. The earlier you address your condition, the faster you will see positive results with the right treatment. Commit to taking a step toward drier panties today, whether it be talking to someone about your condition or learning more about urinary incontinence online.

 

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

surprised woman

Startling Facts about Adult Diapers and Briefs

by General Urinary IncontinenceWomen's Healthcare

surprised womanDid you know that:

•Adult diapers and briefs currently make up 7% of our nation’s landfill?
•Baby diapers currently contribute just 2-3% of landfill waste?
•Diapers are the third largest type of landfill waste?
•The average adult diaper or brief will take up to 200 years to decompose (the same amount of time as an aluminum can)?

In the coming years, adult diapers will contribute an increasing percentage to our landfills. Not only are adult diapers and briefs larger than baby diapers, but the number of adults using diapers is on the rise.

Most diapers go into landfills, which exist on the edge of cities and towns and are eventually covered by dirt. As towns and cities expand over time, they appropriate and build on top of these landfills. Housing developments spread across these previous trash dumps, leading some to wonder what future archaeologists will think when excavating these sites. Will they wonder about the anthropological meaning of so much plastic-backed paper products?

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
If you or someone you know uses adult diaper products, there are two major ways to reduce your carbon footprint, or as some call it, your carbon “buttprint”:

  1. Use diaper boosters or diaper doublers. These are pads that go inside adult diapers, providing extra absorption and making each diaper last longer.
  2. Use long-lasting adult diapers. These diapers have been very popular in Europe and are available mostly online. While the average store-bought adult diaper lasts 2-3 hours, these long-lasting diapers allow users to go 6-8 hours before needing a change.

You can read more about ways to “go green” with adult diapers in Gary Hirsch’s blog.

Of course, the best way to reduce your carbon impact is to get out of adult diapers altogether by reducing symptoms of urinary incontinence. If you haven’t already, ask yourself the three questions we posed in our previous post to see if you have done everything you can to get out of diapers.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

woman thinking

Women’s Urinary Incontinence and Menopause Don’t Always Go Together

by Find the Right DoctorStress Urinary IncontinenceUrge Urinary Incontinence

woman thinkingReally, no kidding. Women’s urinary incontinence can and does regularly occur when mature women reach menopause, but it doesn’t have to. Despite the popular belief that urinary incontinence is “natural” or “normal” when a woman reaches menopause, it simply isn’t true for all women … especially women who have been exercising their pelvic floor muscles.

Why Does Urinary Incontinence Occur with Menopause?
Like almost everything associated with menopause, urinary incontinence occurs because of the hormonal shifts in a woman’s body during this phase of life. Primarily, levels of the female hormone estrogen drop significantly during and after the process of menopause.

This is significant because estrogen is important for keeping the bladder and urethra healthy. Also, lower levels of estrogen in the body contribute to thinning of the urethral, vaginal, and bladder lining. With a thinner lining, the pelvic floor muscles responsible for keeping urine from leaking tend to weaken, which can lead to urinary incontinence.

What Kinds of Urinary Incontinence are Common Post-Menopause?
Women going through menopause or who are post-menopausal most commonly experience either stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or urge urinary incontinence (UUI).

With SUI, urine leaks when you put any pressure on your abdominal cavity, such as when you sneeze, laugh, or step off a curb. This happens because the weakened pelvic floor muscles that are supposed to keep urine in the bladder can’t withstand the sudden increase in abdominal pressure, and allow urine to leak.

With UUI, you experience a sudden and urgent need to urinate, often before you have time to reach the bathroom. This occurs because the bladder muscles squeeze at the wrong time. Many women with UUI feel the urge to go when they hear the sound of running water.

What Should Menopausal Women Do?
If you are experiencing urinary incontinence during or after the process of menopause, seek help from your doctor, whether it be your regular family doctor, your gynecologist, or your urologist.

One of the common conservative medications prescribed for your situation is transvaginal hormones, specifically estrogen. Estrogen, has been shown to increase blood flow, improve nerve function, and rejuvenate the tissues in the urethra and vagina.

Transvaginal hormones have been shown to prevent urinary tract infections in post-menopausal women. These hormones are available in the form of creams, tablets, or a time-release intravaginal ring. Note that transvaginal hormones are different than oral hormone replacement, which may actually worsen incontinence symptoms for some women.

Ready to Get Help?
Here are some resources to help you get help you want and need for your urinary incontinence:

How to Find the Right Doctor for You
Discreet Online Resources
Learn More about Urge Urinary Incontinence
Learn More about Stress Urinary Incontinence

 

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

doctor visit

Some Facts about Urinary Incontinence to Inspire You to Get Help

by General Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

doctor visitAre you a woman suffering from urinary incontinence (UI)? Are you afraid to ask your doctor for help? If so, here are some facts and statistics about UI that may shock you, and give you the courage to ask for help.

You Are Not Alone
Between 13 and 18 million women are regularly affected by UI, and one in four women over the age of 18 has experienced UI. According to the American Association of Family Physicians (AAFP), the number of women affected by UI will only increase as baby boomers age (and there are currently about 79 million baby boomers). At the same time, studies show that about 50% of the women suffering from UI never ask for help. Women who do ask for help wait, on average, almost seven years before doing so.

You are not alone in dealing with UI or in hesitating to ask for help.

Doctors Are More Aware of the UI Problem
According to AAFP, primary care physicians are now seeing many patients complaining of UI. In fact, UI has now become a more prevalent issue than even diabetes or Alzheimer’s for these doctors. Urologists and ob/gyns are seeing the same rise in patients complaining of UI. As a result, UI is starting to become one of the issues to which doctors pay close attention. What does this mean for you?

Don’t be surprised if your doctor asks you about UI, and don’t be afraid to raise the issue if your doctor doesn’t ask.

UI is Not Normal at Any Age
An amazing 35% of the women who have never reported their UI symptoms to a doctor have not raised the issue because they assumed that UI was a normal part of aging. We’ve got news for you: UI is not normal at any age. While many aging women do experience UI, not all aging women do. More importantly, there are many treatments available for women experiencing UI at any age.

No matter your age, if you experience symptoms of UI you should get help.

Don’t run around with wet panties when you don’t have to. Arm yourself with knowledge by learning more about UI on this site, or ask for help from your doctor.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

trash by gender

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Can You Reduce Your Carbon “Butt Print”?

by General Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

trash by genderThese days people and companies alike are starting to take action to erase their carbon “foot print,” whether that means driving a hybrid car or going vegetarian.

But if you have women’s urinary incontinence and you use adult diapers or pads, you have to worry about more than your carbon foot print. You have to consider your carbon “butt print.”

What is a Carbon Butt Print?
Your carbon butt print is the amount of waste that you create by using adult diapers. Like many other consumer products that include plastic, diapers take a long, long time to break down in land fills. Hence, every diaper you use and throw away contributes to your carbon butt print.

Consider this:

  • Adult diapers and briefs currently make up 7% of our nation’s landfill
  • Baby diapers currently contribute just 2-3% of landfill waste
  • Diapers are the third largest type of landfill waste
  • The average adult diaper or brief will take up to 200 years to decompose (the same amount of time as an aluminum can)

Yowza … that’s a lot of carbon. And the number of adult diapers being thrown into landfills will only increase as baby boomers age.

What You Can Do to Reduce Your Carbon Butt Print
Naturally, the best thing for both you and the environment is to get out of adult diapers if at all possible. If you haven’t actually sought help for your women’s urinary incontinence (and about half of all women who have this condition have not), now is the time to do it. Here are some resources to help you get started:

Inspiration to Get Help
Finding the Right Doctor
Preparing for Your Appointment

Aside from that, you can reduce your carbon butt print by following the guidelines here:

Startling Facts about Adult Diapers and Briefs

Good luck and thanks for considering “going green” when dealing with your urinary incontinence!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of Iamnee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

angry woman

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Better Get Mad Not Sad

by GeneralGeneral Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

angry womanIf you suffer from women’s urinary incontinence, chances are that you will experience one of two emotions about your situation: you’ll be mad or you’ll be sad.

Well guess what? It’s better to be mad rather than sad.

Why Being Mad is Better than Being Sad
When it comes to women’s urinary incontinence, you are far better to get angry about your situation than to feel sad or depressed. Why? Because studies show that women who feel sad or depressed about their situation are less likely to seek help.

In addition, women who are sad or depressed are more likely to:

•Overeat, which only contributes to urine leakage
•Abuse alcohol or sedatives, both of which dull the senses and can interfere with the awareness of the need to urinate
•Lack the incentive to get up and go to the bathroom

While getting angry isn’t necessarily the healthiest emotional response, anger is a more active emotional response. The woman who is angry or frustrated enough about her urine leakage is more likely to pick up the phone and make an appointment with her doctor to get help.

The Bottom Line about Urinary Incontinence
The bottom line, literally, is that when it comes to urine leakage and wet panties, you are far better served if you get mad about your situation than if you just feel sad. Sadness and depression are stagnant emotions, and tend to keep you stuck in the status quo.

If you feel sad or depressed about your urinary incontinence, then stop it. Get mad instead! Think about all the parts of your life that you are missing out on because of your urine leakage problem. Think about all the social situations you no longer attend, all the friends you no longer see, and all the sex you might be missing out on.

Then get mad … and get help! Here are some tips to help you choose the right doctor, prepare for your visit, and use the right words at your appointment:

Find the Right Doctor
3 Steps to Prepare for Your Doctor’s Visit
Use the Right Words at Your Appointment

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

panties

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: 5 Requirements for Bladder Health

by General Urinary IncontinenceKegelsPelvic Floor MusclesUrinary Incontinence

pantiesIf you suffer from women’s urinary incontinence, you may be feeling quite frustrated about your wet panties, especially if you haven’t been able to solve your symptoms quickly.

But hold on … the human anatomy is a complicated system, and everything has to work just right for you to avoid urinary incontinence. Did you know that your urinary system has to meet 5 requirements for you to urinate properly?

Really.

The 5 Requirements for Bladder Health
Having a healthy bladder, and resolving your urinary incontinence, means you urinate every three to six hours, which is typical for a healthy person. Unfortunately, if you have women’s urinary incontinence, you probably run for the bathroom far more frequently.

Why is that? One or more of these five functions may not be working well in your body, preventing you from going when you want to … rather than when your body forces you to go.

Requirement #1 for Bladder Health: A Big Enough Bladder
A healthy bladder can hold up to 2 cups of urine before it needs to be emptied. If, for some reason, the walls of your bladder don’t stretch enough to accommodate this amount of urine, you’ll either have urine leakage or need to visit the bathroom often.

Requirement #2 for Bladder Health: Feel the Urge
When your bladder is full, it sends a signal through your nervous system to your brain, which gives you the urge to go. That means that your nervous system has to be functioning properly, and your brain has to interpret the signal correctly. Due to injury, illness, or neurological conditions, some women do not get the sensation of a full bladder and end up instead with wet panties.

Requirement #3 for Bladder Health: Get a Move On
Once your brain sends you the message that you need to urinate, the next impediment is finding a bathroom quickly enough. Hence the “bathroom radar” many women with urinary incontinence develop. For some seniors, speed of movement is a difficulty. For other women, getting their clothes off quickly enough can be a problem. For this reason, many women end up wearing pants with elastic waistbands or other “easy off” clothing. This can definitely ruin a gal’s fashion sense!

Requirement #4 for Bladder Health: Control Those Bladder Muscles
To control your urination and prevent urine leakage, you need strong pelvic floor muscles, especially the muscle called the bladder sphincter. To improve the tone of your pelvic floor muscles, consider doing Kegels and other toning exercises specifically for your muscles “down there.” Many women do Kegels, but incorrectly, so they see very few results. To discover how to do a correct pelvic floor contraction and more, download our free ebook, which gives you step-by-step instructions.

Requirement #5 for Bladder Health: Empty the Bladder Completely
If you are able to get to a bathroom in time to avoid a leakage accident, but then can’t empty your bladder completely, then you’ll feel the urge to urinate soon. The inability to empty your bladder completely not only increases the frequency of your urge to urinate, but can also increase your risk of urinary tract infections. If you feel that your bladder is not emptying completely each time you urinate, check with an urologist. A quick test will confirm whether this is one of the causes of your urinary incontinence.

Steps You Can Take for Bladder Health
Hopefully this snapshot of the different requirements necessary for bladder health gives you an idea of where your body’s urinary system may be breaking down. Armed with this knowledge, you can better communicate with your healthcare providers about your situation.

In addition, check out these resources for women’s urinary incontinence:

Free Ebook: What’s Up Down There?
Online Resources for Women’s Urinary Incontinence

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of marin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

doctor

Would You Rather Have a Red Face or Wet Panties?

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary Incontinence

doctorEmbarrassment.

It is the main reason women suffering from urinary incontinence (UI) hesitate to discuss the problem with their doctors. Two-thirds of women never do. The women who do ask for help from healthcare professionals wait, on average, almost seven years before doing so.

That’s a long time to wait, but nothing compares to the true story of a woman who waited 40 years before seeking help! This woman had been dealing with wet panties since the vaginal delivery of her youngest child 40 years ago. Why did this woman wait so long?

Forty Years of Wet Panties
This woman was kind enough to share her story with us so that we could share it with you. While her delay in asking for help is extreme, her story is much like that of many women dealing with UI. Below are the reasons she waited so long before getting help. If you suffer from UI then these will probably sound familiar. She says:

-I was embarrassed to tell my doctor.
-I thought my UI would go away naturally.
-I lost some weight and the UI symptoms got better.
-UI was not really interfering with my life until now.
-I was afraid I would be told nothing could be done.
-I was afraid they would just tell me I was too fat. In fact, one doctor did tell me that.
-Every woman in my family has had this problem so I thought it was normal.

Wow! Does that ring any bells for you? If you have used any of these reasons to justify not seeking help for your UI, you might want to reconsider your position. Here are some thoughts to consider about UI.

Urinary incontinence:

-is not healthy or normal at any age, even if it “runs in the family”
-can and does interfere with your life, whether you acknowledge it or not
-can improve with weight loss, but you may need additional treatment to get maximum relief from your symptoms
-usually does not go away without treatment
-is treatable, with most women finding significant relief or cure via conservative therapies or surgery

The bottom line is that UI can have a stronger negative impact on your life over the long run than any embarrassment you might feel about seeking help from a healthcare professional. Think about it: would you rather be red-faced for a short period of time or deal with wet panties for the rest of your life?

If you do decide to get help for your UI, here are some resources to get you started:

Some Facts about Urinary Incontinence to Inspire You to Get Help
How to Find the Right Doctor to Treat Your Urinary Incontinence
Discover Which Kind of UI You Have

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

pregnant

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Post-Partum Statistics

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary IncontinenceKegelsUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

pregnantDid you know that women who have given birth are 2.5 times more likely to have urinary incontinence than women who have not?

It’s sad, but true. During pregnancy, a woman’s body undergoes many physical and hormonal changes. These changes can result in urinary urgency, urge urinary incontinence, and incomplete emptying of the bladder during pregnancy.

While some women who experience urinary incontinence during pregnancy do not have urine leakage after delivery, many do. The opposite is also true: women who were continent during their pregnancy may discover that they leak urine post-partum.

Some Statistics about Women’s Urinary Incontinence Post-Partum
What’s a mom-to-be or a new mom to think? Well, here are some statistics which may offer you some guidance on what to expect (according to Carolyn Sampselle as reported in the American Journal of Nursing):

–    Vaginal delivery is linked to a high rate of urinary incontinence in the period directly after birth
–    21% of women experience urinary incontinence after their first vaginal delivery with spontaneous birth
–    36% of women experience urinary incontinence after their first vaginal delivery with forceps delivery

Now zoom into the future about five years and you get this statistic: women who experience urinary incontinence for a period of time post-partum are three times as likely to have urinary incontinence five years later.

In addition, in a study by Brown and Lumley (2000), urinary incontinence was one of the three major health factors associated with poor emotional well-being post-partum. The other two factors were tiredness and a higher than usual number of minor illnesses. Ultimately, if left untreated, these factors can lead to long-term depression.

So What is a Post-Partum Mom to Do?
If you suffered from urinary incontinence during your pregnancy, or post-partum, then you should take definite and immediate action. Make an appointment and speak honestly with your doctor about your condition. Find out what conservative measures you can take to improve your symptoms.

Then take charge and be your own best health advocate! Browse through the various posts on this blog to learn how to find the best doctor, talk to your doctor, prepare for your appointment, and more. Or, download our free ebook, “What’s Up Down There” and do a quick self-assessment of your situation “down there.” The ebook also gives you step-by-step instructions on how to do a correct pelvic floor contraction, or Kegel, which helps alleviate many symptoms of urinary incontinence.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

doctor

Solving Urinary Incontinence: Avoid Doorknob Conversations with Your Doc

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary IncontinenceResources and AppsWomen's Healthcare

doctorWhen it comes to female urinary incontinence, many women are doorknob conversationalists. What’s a “doorknob conversation”?

It’s where you avoid talking about urinary incontinence during the entire doctor’s appointment because you are too embarrassed to bring it up. Then, at the last moment, literally when your hand is on the doorknob and you are walking out the door, you raise the issue.

Those conversations usually start with, “By the way …” or “I forgot to mention this, but …”

You know what we’re talking about, right? We’ve all done it, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Unfortunately, these kinds of conversations prevent you from getting the help you need. Your doctor isn’t likely to have time at the end of your appointment to fully discuss your urinary incontinence issues, so you’ll end up having to come back for another appointment.

Three Steps to Avoiding Doorknob Conversations
Instead of waiting until you are walking out the door to ask your doc for help, get right to the heart of the issue at the beginning of the appointment. Here are three tips to help you avoid doorknob conversations.

1. Be Clear About the Purpose of Your Appointment
When you call to schedule your appointment, be sure to tell the staff at your doctor’s office that the purpose of your appointment is to discuss urinary incontinence. Be sure to use the words “urinary incontinence” so that your meaning isn’t lost in translation. Be firm with yourself about this!

2. Jot Down Your Symptoms and Questions
To be sure you get exactly the help you need, make a list of all of your symptoms. Include items like when you leak urine, how much urine you leak, triggers for urine leakage, and any other related symptoms. Make a list of all the medications you currently take, as some of these could be related to your symptoms. Finally, jot down any questions you want your doctor to answer.

3. Grab a Buddy
If you are afraid that you will chicken out at the last moment, either by skipping your appointment or failing to actually discuss your symptoms, take a buddy with you to your appointment. Ask your buddy to remind you of the purpose of your appointment, and ensure that you cover every item on your list during your appointment. A trusted friend can offer a lot of moral support and courage.

Need more tips? Check out these resources:

Using the Right Words – Don’t Let Your Symptoms Get Lost in Translation
Learn About the Different Types of Urinary Incontinence 
How to Keep a Voiding Diary

 
If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of marin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Frustrated Caucasian Woman

Is Your Chronic Uncertainty about Urinary Incontinence Causing You Stress?

by GeneralUrinary Incontinence

Frustrated Caucasian WomanAccording to a recent webinar co-sponsored by the American Urological Association, chronic uncertainty is one of the major forms of stress in today’s culture. More importantly, the chronic uncertainty associated with urinary incontinence can cause women to feel levels of stress similar to that felt by people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSS). That’s a lot of stress!

What Women with Urinary Incontinence Stress About
Women coping with symptoms of urinary incontinence tend to stress about numerous issues on a daily basis, most of them dealing with uncertainty. They wonder if they:

-smell like urine
-will have an embarrassing accident and leak urine while in public or during sex
-can make it to the bathroom before an accident
-can find enough bathrooms at work
-will be able to get up the courage to ask for help
-will be able to afford adult diapers and other medical aids
-will ever find a cure for their urine leakage symptoms

… and that’s just a short list of worries that can cause a woman to feel chronic uncertainty.

The Stress of Chronic Uncertainty in Urinary Incontinence
The first few times they experience urine leakage, most women feel worry and embarrassment. When the symptoms of urinary incontinence don’t go away, but linger or even get worse, many women begin experiencing chronic uncertainty.

The stress of this uncertainty becomes a factor of everyday life, not just an occasional worry that pops up from time to time. In fact, this kind of stress can have such a strong effect that many medical organizations have recently started recognizing this kind of chronic uncertainty as a “health-related quality of life factor,” and begun using it as a factor in making policy decisions.

Are You Stressing Unnecessarily?
The worst thing about the stress associated with urinary incontinence is that it is usually unnecessary. There are many new and innovative therapies available today for women suffering from urine leakage, and the success rates of these therapies are very high.

So ask yourself what is worse: the daily stress you suffer from dealing with the uncertainty of urinary incontinence, or the possible embarrassment of seeking help from a health practitioner?

Avoid Chronic Stress and Get Help for Urinary Incontinence
Life is stressful enough without having to deal with urinary incontinence on a daily basis. Learn how women are successfully alleviating and curing their symptoms of urinary incontinence by reading these short stories:

Is This You? http://www.awomansguidetopelvichealth.com/is-this-you/

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: How do You Feel about Bathrooms?

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

When you think about bathrooms, how do you feel about them? Are they happy places or something less pleasant?

According to a study by the National Association for Continence (NAFC), the majority of respondents claimed that the bathroom was a happy place for them, a personal refuge. Aside from the obvious, what do these people do in bathrooms?

– 53% read
– 47% think about serious issues
– 33% talk on the telephone
– 27% make love

On the other hand, people with bladder issues had a very different take on bathrooms. Specifically:

People with bladder issues viewed the bathroom as a symbol of incarceration.

In other words, instead of being a happy place, for people with urinary incontinence the bathroom is more of a jailhouse. The fact that 61% of these people have to constantly look for bathrooms when they leave the house for around 3 hours would make it seem like they are perpetually “tethered” to some bathroom or other.

Get Help for Women’s Urinary Incontinence
So what should a gal with urinary incontinence do to “get out of jail”? Get help! Whether you read up about your condition to understand why you experience urine leakage, or simply pick up the phone and make an appointment with your doctor, do something. Here are some places you can start:

Read our in-depth book on women’s pelvic health
Read up on pelvic floor health with our free ebook “What’s Up Down There?”
Find the right doctor
Access discreet online resources about urinary incontinence
View the many faces of women’s urinary incontinence

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Bladder Health: Did You Know the Bladder Shrinks with Age?

by KegelsStress Urinary IncontinenceUrge Urinary Incontinence

Get this:

As you age certain parts of your body get larger (like your nose or ears) while other parts shrink, like your bladder.

Yikes! That’s bad news for those with women’s urinary incontinence. Leaking urine is bad enough, but the fact that the condition might worsen with aging due to a shrinking bladder can be downright depressing.

At age 25, the average person’s bladder can hold about two cups of urine before it has to be emptied. By age 65, that amount decreases to just one cup. That means twice as many trips to the bathroom.

Bladder Health: What to Do About the Shrinking Bladder
So what does a woman do about her incredible shrinking bladder? That’s a good question.

The answer is simple: train your bladder.

If you are otherwise fairly healthy, you can train your bladder so that you go when you want to, rather than when your bladder dictates you must. With bladder training, you are taking steps toward restoring bladder health.

Bladder Training and Bladder Health
The goal of bladder training is to learn to urinate before you have the urgent urge to go, or after you successfully reduce or eliminate the urge. Learning to urinate before the urgent need is upon you helps because running for the bathroom only makes urine leakage worse. Running tends to jiggle the abdominal organs, which increases the pressure on your bladder … and you end up with urine leakage.

With bladder training you focus on increasing the amount of time between urination. This technique is most effective for women with stress urinary incontinence or urge urinary incontinence (also called overactive bladder).

How to Train Your Bladder
To train your bladder, start out by urinating every two hours during the day, whether or not you feel you have to go. After you have successfully mastered this schedule, gradually increase the time between urination by half hour increments, until you reach four hours. Four hours is a reasonable period of time between urination, and at this point you won’t find the urge to go interfering with your life.

During bladder training, if you feel the urge to go during the two hour window, stop what you are doing and remain still. At the same time, perform a pelvic floor muscle contraction, also called a Kegel. Squeeze your pelvic floor muscles several times quickly, and do not relax fully between squeezes. These are similar to “quick Kegels,” and will help suppress the urge to urinate. Also stay calm and take deep breaths. Once the urge has passed, walk slowly to the bathroom while continuing to do some quick Kegels.

Bladder Health Takes Practice
As with all new exercises, bladder training takes practice. Don’t worry if your first attempts at doing this exercise don’t succeed. Just stay focused and keep practicing. Eventually your pelvic floor muscles will become much stronger and you will feel the urgent urge to go less frequently. Also consult your physician to see if there are other conservative therapies that will complement bladder training.

Finally, if you are not sure how to do a correct pelvic floor muscle contraction (and about half of all women are not), check out our step-by-step ebook that gives you step by step instructions.

Download the “What’s Up Down There” ebook here.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: What Questions Will Your Doctor Ask?

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

Have you finally taken the big step of calling your doctor and setting an appointment to deal with your urinary incontinence symptoms? If so, good for you.

To prepare yourself for your appointment, you might like to know what kinds of questions your doctor will ask you. Well, we can give you the list of questions, straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

Most physicians in the U.S. will follow the guidelines issued by the Agency for Policy and Research, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

According to these guidelines, physicians are encouraged to ask the following questions:

•Can you tell me about the problems you are having with your bladder?
•Can you tell me about the trouble you are having holding your urine?
•How often do you lose urine when you don’t want to?
•When do you lose urine when you don’t want to?
•What activities or situations are linked with leakage?
•Is it associated with laughing, coughing or getting to the bathroom?
•How often do you wear a pad for protection?
•Do you use other protective devices to collect your urine?
•How long have you been having a problem with urine?

There you have it. Now that you know what questions your doctor is likely to ask, you can prepare your answers ahead of time, so you get the most from your appointment. In addition you may want to check out our three suggested steps for preparing for your appointment:

Three Steps to Prepare for Your Doctor’s Appointment

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How to Find the Right Doctor to Treat Your Urinary Incontinence

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

It can be hard to ask for help with your urinary incontinence (UI). In fact, the average affected woman waits seven years before getting help. What can make the situation even worse is finally asking for help, and then showing up at the doctor’s office and not getting the help you need.

Discussing UI is embarrassing enough, and dealing with a doctor who is insensitive or doesn’t offer the right solutions for you can make you regret asking for help. So how do you find the right doctor to treat your UI? Women who have experienced successful treatment for UI typically get recommendations from one of these sources:

  • Other women who have been treated for UI
  • Referrals from their family doctor
  • Advertisements or internet referral sites

Word-of-Mouth Still Works Best
No one understands the trials and tribulations of UI like another woman who has suffered the same symptoms. Ask women you trust if they have been treated for UI, and if they had a good experience from their care provider. According to the Women’s Sexual Health Foundation, asking women who have already been treated is an excellent way to find a care provider, since these women know “which doctors and other professionals have been helpful.” These same women “often know the inside scoop,” meaning they can provide a more personal view on whether the doctor showed caring, had the right knowledge, and offered useful treatments.

Your Family Doctor Knows You Well
If you don’t feel comfortable asking your women friends for referrals, check in with your family doctor. Chances are that he or she knows you pretty well. Many patients follow this route. A study by the Center for Studying Health System Change shows that seven out of ten people looking for a specialist relied on referrals from their primary care physician. One of the benefits of asking your family doctor for a referral is that he or she is likely to match you with a specialist who suits your personal treatment preferences and personality. They may also be able to refer you to a specialist who works within your health insurance plan.

Find a Specialist through Advertisements or the Internet
While it used to be taboo for doctors to advertise their services, these days it is a perfectly normal practice–and can help you find the UI specialist you need. A doctor who advertises a specialty in UI is likely to have a lot of experience treating this condition with a variety of methods.

Another option is to browse internet referral sites for doctors specializing in treating UI. If you do choose to use the internet as a referral resource, experts recommend that you look through multiple referral sites for greater accuracy. Also, place more importance on objective information (“Dr. X followed up within 24 hours to review my test results.”) than on subjective comments (“Dr. X was a jerk!”).

If you suffer from UI, there’s a world of help out there. All you have to do is ask. These three sources should give you some great places to start looking for the right doctor to help you with your UI.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=
RESOURCES

Online Referral Sites
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/04/17/ep.finding.docs.online/index.html

Word-of-Mouth Study
http://www.hschange.org/CONTENT/1028/

Women’s Sexual Health Foundation
http://twshf.blogspot.com/2009/02/finding-doctor-who-can-help.html

Urinary Incontinence – 3 Steps to Prepare for Your Doctor’s Appointment

by GeneralGeneral Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

The big day is just around the corner: your doctor’s appointment to evaluate and discuss treatment options for your urinary incontinence. Now that you have actually worked up the nerve to make the appointment, a little preparatory work will ensure that you walk away from your appointment with the solutions you seek.

Preparing for your appointment doesn’t have to be complicated, but you should take the time to do so. Good preparation leads to good communication during the appointment. Your doctor gets all the information he or she needs to accurately evaluate your condition. You get answers to your questions and can explore your treatment options. You can prepare for your appointment in three easy steps.

Step 1: Observe Your Symptoms
If you have been dealing with symptoms of urinary incontinence, this may seem odd, since no doubt you are quite familiar with your symptoms. However, your doctor will probably ask you some very specific questions, so you will need to observe your symptoms closely for a few days, and jot down some notes. In fact, some healthcare providers even ask their patients, when they schedule their appointment, to keep a voiding diary prior to the appointment.

Keeping a voiding diary is a good idea whether your doctor’s office requests it or not, and will help your doctor assess your situation more accurately. To keep a voiding diary, simply keep track of the following for a few days:

-when, how much, and what kinds of fluids you drink
-when and how many times you urinate during the day
-how many times a day you experience leakage, how much you leak, and under what conditions (such as coughing or sneezing, or during the night)

Also jot down any other health issues you experience, even if you think they are not related to your urinary incontinence.

Step 2: Make Your List
In addition to keeping a voiding diary, jot down a list of supplements and medications you are taking, and write a list of questions you have for your doctor. The list will come in handy during your appointment and remind you to ask all of your questions. For urinary incontinence, you may wish to ask your doctor the following:

-what kind of urinary incontinence you have (stress, urge, mixed, or pelvic organ prolapse)
-whether your urinary incontinence symptoms can be improved or cured
-what kinds of tests you might need to assess your situation
-whether lifestyle changes or diet modification might help
-what kinds of conservative therapies might improve your symptoms
-whether your medications could be aggravating your condition
-whether there are medications that would help your condition
-whether surgery is necessary

Step 3: Gather Your Stuff and Prepare Yourself
On the day of your appointment, gather up all of your “stuff.” You’ll want to take your voiding diary, your list of questions, as well as a notepad and pen so you can write down important information during your appointment. If you were not able to list all of the medications and supplements you are taking in the step above, simply gather all the bottles and pills into a bag and bring them with you to your appointment. If you have difficulty seeing or hearing, be sure to bring your glasses or hearing aids.

You may also want to ask a close friend or family member to come with you to your appointment. Your companion can help you remember to ask all of your questions, and remember important information. Finally, your doctor may want to do a pelvic exam, especially if you have scheduled an appointment with a urologist or urogynecologist, so you may want to take special care with your personal hygiene before your appointment.

Then, having thoroughly prepared yourself for your appointment, you are ready to fully explore the many available treatment options for solving your urinary incontinence issues.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

What Will You Free Yourself From This Independence Day?

by General Urinary IncontinenceResources and AppsUrinary Incontinence

Happy Independence Day! What a wonderful day to consider a problem that bothers millions of ladies all over the world:

poor pelvic health

Whether you suffer from women’s urinary incontinence, decreased sexual sensation, or pelvic organ prolapse, today–Independence Day–is a great day to consider how you can gain independence from poor pelvic health.

Don’t Delay – Get Independence Now!
Whether you have urinary urgency and frequency, urinary leakage, pelvic organ prolapse symptoms, or decreased sensation “down there,” here’s what you need to know: you don’t need to deal with these symptoms anymore. You just need to declare your independence from these troublesome symptoms of poor women’s pelvic health.

Try these resources to find the motivation, education, and help to declare your independence!

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: What You Give Up When You Don’t Seek Help

Women’s Pelvic Health: Why You Should Talk to Your Doctor Now – Video

Got Women’s Urinary Incontinence? Tests You Can Expect

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: The Power of Knowing Yourself

Tired of Being Publicly Humiliated by Women’s Urinary Incontinence? Bladder Retraining Can Help

Women: Are Your Bedroom Encounters “Not” Instead of “Hot”?

Women’s Urinary Incontinence – Coping at Work – Video

Pelvic Floor Exercises: How a Physical Therapist Can Help Improve Your Results

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Overcoming Your Fear of Surgery

How Do You Talk to Your Partner About Women’s Urinary Incontinence?

Actually Talking to Your Partner About Women’s Urinary Incontinence

Get it? Got it? Good! Now go forth, declare your independence from symptoms of poor pelvic health. Take whatever massive action you need to gain your independence. You can do it. We know you can!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Understanding Your Water Works

by General Urinary IncontinenceUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

As they say, “Knowledge is power.” If you have women’s urinary incontinence, power means having knowledge about how your urinary system works. After all, if you want to understand why and how you are leaking urine or experiencing urinary urgency or frequency, then you have to first understand how your urinary system works, right?

So… if you want the knowledge that will empower you about your urinary incontinence, prepare yourself for a VERY SIMPLE anatomy lesson on your urinary system. Don’t worry, we’ll keep it simple. We will only relay the facts you absolutely MUST know to understand how your water works, work!

The Parts of Your Urinary System
When your urinary system is healthy, it acts as a well-synchronized system of organs that remove waste from your body. Your urinary system includes:

  • kidneys
  • bladder
  • ureters
  • urinary sphincters
  • urethra
  • your brain

Yup, your brain is part of your urinary system! Your brain sends and receives signals from your organs, coordinating them all so that you arrive at the bathroom in time to urinate.

How Your Urinary System Works
Your urinary system is not complicated, especially when it is working! The whole process starts with your kidneys, which produce urine by filtering waste products and excess water out of your bloodstream. Your kidneys send this waste material to your bladder via tubes called ureters.

Your bladder then stores the urine until you are ready to urinate. Your bladder, a hollow muscular organ that sits in the bowl of your pelvis, should be able to hold one to two cups of urine for up to two to five hours. As your bladder fills, circular muscles (called sphincters) keep the urine in your bladder, preventing leakage.

When your bladder is full, nerves in your bladder send signals to your brain, which results in your feeling the urge to urinate. Hopefully, at that point, you seek out a bathroom in plenty of time, and spell R-E-L-I-E-F. Specifically, when you are ready to urinate, your brain tells those urinary sphincters to relax and your bladder to contract. As a result, urine leaves the bladder, travels through the urethra, and out of your body (and hopefully into the toilet and not onto your panties)!

Not Too Complicated, Right?
So there you have it… the anatomy and workings of your urinary system. When everything works in synchrony, you have no problems. However, when the signals get mixed up along the way, the result is women’s urinary incontinence. The resulting symptoms include urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage. If you have these symptoms, it’s time to schedule an appointment with your doctor or specialist!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Got Women’s Urinary Incontinence? Tests You Can Expect

by General Urinary IncontinenceMixed Urinary IncontinenceOveractive BladderPelvic Organ ProlapseStress Urinary IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

If you have women’s urinary incontinence and are finally ready to discuss your condition, we congratulate you! One of the best ways that you can prepare for your doctor’s appointment is to understand the tests your doctor will likely perform to assess your condition. These tests are designed to help your doctor discover which form of urinary incontinence you experience: stress, urge (or overactive bladder), or mixed urinary incontinence. Learn about the three different types of women’s urinary incontinence here. In addition, these tests will inform your doctor about your symptoms, whether you have urinary urgency, leakage, or frequency (or all three)!

Tests for Women’s Urinary Incontinence
Don’t worry, none of the tests your doctor will perform to assess your urinary incontinence is painful. At the most, these tests are slightly embarrassing, but then, most women already feel embarrassed discussing their urinary incontinence with their doctors. If you have overcome that embarrassment and actually have an appointment with your doctor, these tests will be a breeze.

Initial Tests
Your doctor or specialists (urologist or ob/gyn or gerontologist) will first discuss your symptoms and condition. In addition, your doctor will perform some initial tests, which usually include a physical examination, a urinalysis, and a post-void residual. Here’s what each of those tests involves:

– Physical Exam: The physical examination will include a pelvic evaluation, so you may wish to take extra care with your hygiene prior to your appointment. This physical exam helps your doctor determine the anatomy associated with your incontinence. During this evaluation, the specialist will determine whether any of your pelvic organs have prolapsed or fallen out of place, which may contribute to your urinary incontinence issues.

– Urinalysis: This initial test helps your doctor rule out infection or blood in the urine as the cause of your urinary incontinence. You will be asked to provide a urine sample for testing. If the specialist suspects that you have a urinary tract infection, he or she will recommend a specific treatment plan to resolve the infection and send the sample for further testing. If blood is found in your urine, further testing may be needed to determine the cause.

– Post-void residual: This test confirms whether you are fully emptying your bladder when you urinate. A catheter or ultrasound machine is used to measure the urine remaining in your bladder after urination. A normal post-void residual is less than 100 ml

Further Testing
If your doctor is unable to fully determine the cause of your urinary incontinence, he or she may perform further tests. These can include a cystoscopy, urodynamic testing, and asking you to keep a bladder diary. These tests will include the following:

– Cystoscopy: A cytoscope is a thin, lighted viewing instrument that is inserted into the urethra and bladder. Your doctor will use this instrument to examine the interior lining of the bladder and urethra for issues, other than weakened pelvic floor muscles, that may be affecting your continence.

– Urodynamic Testing: This minimally invasive test focuses on your bladder’s ability to fill and empty. It measures how much your bladder can hold, how much pressure builds inside your bladder as it stores urine, and how full it is when you feel the urge to urinate. Urodynamic testing helps your doctor determine how well you might respond to certain treatments.

– Voiding Diary: Your physician may ask you to keep a voiding diary as part of your evaluation. This diary will allow you to communicate clearly with him or her about the status of your bladder, including how frequently you urinate during the day and at night, how much fluid you drink daily, and the volume of urine leakage you experience. The voiding diary will most likely also educate you about your own condition, too. Many women who keep a voiding diary are surprised at how frequently they urinate or have leakage accidents.

So there you have it. Now you have a better understanding of the tests your doctor or specialist may run to fully understand the causes of your women’s urinary incontinence. Knowledge is power, and at this point you are armed with the knowledge to confidently go to your doctor’s appointment to get on the path the relief!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Why You Need a Custom Pelvic Floor Exercise Program

by Pelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor WeaknessResources and Apps

If you are considering starting a pelvic floor exercise program, we congratulate you! Your pelvic floor muscles, like any other muscles in your body, need exercise on a regular basis. Doing correct exercises for your pelvic floor can help with pelvic conditions like women’s urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and decreased sexual sensation.

But did you know that not just any pelvic floor exercise program will do? You actually need a program that is customized to your pelvic floor muscle… more specifically, the level of fitness of your pelvic floor muscles. Here’s why…

Why You Need a Custom Program for Your Pelvic Floor
Not having a customized exercise program is like going to the gym and starting a weight-lifting program… with whatever weights happen to be on the bench press bar. Not having a customized program may mean that you are doing pelvic floor exercises that are either too easy or too difficult for your current level of pelvic floor fitness.

What happens when you do pelvic floor exercises not suitable to your current level of pelvic floor fitness?

1. Too Easy
When you use an exercise program that is too easy for your level of pelvic floor fitness, you will not get much benefit from doing these exercises. Exercise fitness studies indicate that you need to exercise your pelvic floor muscles at maximum intensity for your current level of fitness for a short period of time to gain maximum results. Doing many repetitions at a lower intensity will not yield beneficial results.

2. Too Difficult
On the other hand, if you attempt to do exercises that are too difficult or too intense for your current level of pelvic fitness, you may end up engaging the wrong muscles. Studies show that when women attempt to do pelvic floor contractions too intense for their level of pelvic floor muscle fitness, these women tend to engage their buttock or inner thigh muscles instead of their pelvic floor muscles.

Designing a Program “Just Right for You
Like Goldilocks, having a pelvic floor exercise program that is “just right” for your level of fitness is the key to success. When you exercise your pelvic floor muscles at your current maximum level of intensity, for just 15 minutes per day or less, you will gain the maximum benefit.

How do you know what level of exercise is just right for you? You need to use a program based on these factors:

  • strength of your current pelvic floor muscles contraction
  • length of time you can hold a correct pelvic floor muscle contraction
  • number of repetitions you can do correct pelvic floor muscle contractions

A correct pelvic floor muscle contraction is one that engages only your pelvic floor muscles, not overflow muscles such as your inner thigh or buttock muscles.

To design the perfect at-home pelvic floor exercise program for your current level of fitness, first test your level of fitness, then design a program based on that level of fitness. For complete instructions on how to test yourself and design your custom program, check out our book. We give you complete step-by-step instructions for testing and designing, plus advanced directions on how to integrate these exercises into your daily life easily and with maximum results!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.