Posts in category: General Urinary Incontinence

Millions of women in the United States and around the world are keeping a little secret:urinary incontinence

The irony of the situation is that millions of women are keeping their urine leakage problem a secret-all the while thinking that they are alone-when, in fact, they have a tremendous amount of company.

Some Statistics about Women’s Urinary Incontinence
If you suffer from urine leakage and feel that you are isolated, then these statistics should change your mind. Did you know that:

– Almost half of all women who have had children have stress incontinence by the time they are age 40

– Stress and urge urinary incontinence (also called overactive bladder) are highly prevalent, even among younger women

– In the U.S., stress incontinence affects over 15 million women while urge incontinence affects more than 16 million women

– 11% of women will have one pelvic surgery, while 29% will have more than one pelvic surgery

Do you still think you are alone? These statistics should convince you otherwise! More importantly, they should convince you of the need to seek attention for your urinary incontinence. While urinary incontinence isn’t exactly cocktail-party conversation, it should be a conversation you have with your healthcare provider

Don’t know where to start? Try digging into some of these resources on how to talk to your doctor and which questions your doctor may ask:

How to Talk to Your Doctor
Which Questions Will Your Doctor Ask About Urinary Incontinence
Preparing for Your Doctor’s Appointment

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Do you have women’s urinary incontinence? If so, then we have some strategies to help you deal with your urine leakage issues, especially if you are traveling or you simply want to keep an active lifestyle.

There is no need to limit your social activities because of your incontinence. Instead, check out these tips to keep you dry and comfortable.

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Dealing with Medication Side Effects
Slushies for Urinary Incontinence Symptoms
Pack a Bag When You are Out and About
Tips for Long Distance Travel
3 Ways to Avoid Accidents
Minimize Urine Odors
Use the Right Absorbent Products

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If you are a woman dealing with urinary incontinence, then medication may be a very effective conservative therapy to help you prevent urine leakage accidents. Unfortunately, as you may have already discovered, many medications have side effects. These side effects can include dry mouth, dry eyes, constipation, and nausea.Taking medication for women’s urinary incontinence is often a balancing act between the positive benefits of the medication and the negative side effects. The good news is that there are ways you can soften the impact of these side effects. This articles covers the most common and effective ways to do that.

Methods for Dealing with Medication Side Effects
Many medications for women’s urinary incontinence have a drying effect on the body, which causes the common side effects of dry eyes, dry mouth, and constipation. In addition, some medications cause nausea. To handle these side effects, many women have found the following strategies to be effective.

Dry Mouth
If you experience a dry mouth as a side effect of your medication, it may seem natural to load up on fluids. Unfortunately, this can worsen your urine leakage symptoms. Instead, to moisten your mouth you can chew gum, suck on lozenges and hard candy, or melt ice chips in your mouth. You can also try some artificial over-the-counter moisteners like Biotene. Check with your health care provider or pharmacist for these kinds of products.

Dry Eyes
There are many over-the-counter eye drops that can alleviate the itchiness and irritation of dry eyes. Artificial tears and any preservative-free moisturizing eye drops should work well. If you have glaucoma, be sure to let your healthcare provider know since some medications are contra-indicated for people with glaucoma.

Constipation
Changing your diet to include more fresh fruits, vegetables, and fiber can make a big difference in preventing constipation. Also, be sure you are drinking enough water, usually between four and nine cups of water per day. Drinking too little water can actually worsen urinary leakage symptoms (as can drinking too much water), and will definitely contribute to constipation. If you can’t get enough fiber in your diet, taking a fiber supplement/stool softener can also help. Common over-the-counter fiber supplements, such as Metamucil, Miralax, Konsyl, and Citrucel, work well. You might also want to consider our own home-remedy for regular bowel movements. Simply mix ¼ cup freshly ground flaxseed, ¼ cup aloe vera juice, and ½ cup apple juice. Drink immediately. Note that it’s very important to grind the flaxseed fresh each time.

Nausea
Although this side effect is less common than the three mentioned above, it can sometimes occur. To alleviate feelings of nausea, consider drinking mint or ginger tea, or taking ginger capsules. Exercise can also sometimes help.

We hope these tips help you balance any negative side effects of medications you are taking for women’s urinary incontinence. Medication is a proven conservative therapy for urine leakage, so don’t bypass its benefits. Just learn to manage the possible side effects!

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If you have women’s urinary incontinence then you are probably familiar with a long list of things you can and can’t eat and drink. For instance, caffeinated drinks and acidic foods are definitely on the “don’t touch” list.On the other hand, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables top the list of foods you should eat. And while you may be very diligent about what you eat and drink, there are times when you may find yourself lapsing from your prescribed diet.

Don’t worry. If you just can’t help yourself and you “sin” at a party or chug a few too many cups of coffee, we have the perfect solution for you: a slushy!

The Bicarbonate Slush for Women’s Urinary Incontinence
When you think of the word “slushy,” you may think of a hot-pink icy drink you get from the local convenience store, but that’s not what we mean. When we say “slushy,” we mean a bicarbonate slush, otherwise known as a quick fix for when you veer off your bladder-healthy diet.

Making and drinking a bicarbonate slush can help reduce urine acidity and dilute any effects of specific food or drink irritants. It’s easy to make this slush. Here’s how:

1. Dilute one teaspoon of baking soda with 16 ounces of water.
2. Drink this slush and immediately
3. Drink an additional eight ounces of plain water.

If you are prone to salt retention or have high blood pressure, check with your healthcare provider before using bicarbonate slushes, as baking soda can be contraindicated.

Other Options for Dietary Indiscretions
If bicarbonate slushes don’t appeal to you (or you don’t have immediate access to baking soda), another option for alleviating your dietary indiscretions is simply to drink more water. Drinking plenty of water may reduce urine acidity and dilute any effects of these specific irritants.

If you have urinary incontinence, optimally you should drink four to nine cups of water daily. If your urine leakage or bladder symptoms get worse, you can immediately drink more water for dilution. If possible, keep your water intake to a minimum after 6 pm to prevent late-night urine leakage accidents.

Also, if you know you are going to be in a situation where you can’t avoid acidic or bladder-irritating foods, go with “the usual” coping mechanisms:

1. Wear dark clothing so that urine leakage won’t show
2. Pack extra incontinence pads or diapers
3. Stick with options to coffee (like Kava or sun-brewed tea), as well as low-acid food like apricots, papayas, pears, and watermelons

Hopefully, the slushy and these other options will help alleviate your urinary leakage symptoms in a simple and effective way.

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Did you know that getting a note from your doctor may help you handle your urinary incontinence at work? We’re not kidding. As silly as it might seem, many mature adult career women really are getting notes from their doctors to help them cope with urine leakage issues while on the job.While you might be thinking that the days of getting a “hall pass” to go to the bathroom ended in high school, if you have women’s urinary incontinence you might find that a note from your doctor will really help you at work.Let Your Doctor Do the Talking
Urinary incontinence is an issue that women have difficulty discussing, even with their own doctors. This health issue is also a very private matter, which means that you probably don’t want everyone you work with to know about your condition.At the same time, you still have to deal with urine leakage accidents and the need to visit the bathroom frequently, often at the most inopportune times. This can be embarrassing and potentially cause problems at work, especially if you have to suddenly leave an important meeting to run for the bathroom.

Getting a note from your doctor that simply explains that you have a medical condition which requires you to get up every two hours can solve the problem. May Wakamatsu, MD, chief of Vincent Urogynecoloy in Boston, indicates that it’s not necessary to tell your employer the exact details of your medical condition. Instead, she says, “All you need to say is, ‘I have a medical problem that requires treatment.'”

Dr. Wakamatsu has written notes to this effect for her women patients to give to their employers. This note gives women the freedom to go to the bathroom often without having to explain the frequency of their absences. Dr. Wakamatsu adds, “It’s a very private, personal problem – and I’m not sure you need to explain it at work.”

We agree. What’s up down there is a personal and very private issue. Getting a note from your doctor may be the perfect way to let your employer know that you have a diagnosed medical condition that requires you to step away from your work every couple hours. Then there’s no need to explain. Let the note from your doctor do all the explaining.

We encourage you to explore the option of getting a note from your doctor if the symptoms of your women’s urinary incontinence have been getting in your way at work. It is one more approach to help you simplify the way that you handle your urinary incontinence.

Also, check out our free “What’s Up Down There” ebook for more information on pelvic floor health and how you can improve yours!

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If you suffer from women’s urinary incontinence, then no doubt one of your primary goals in daily life is to avoid urine leakage accidents. Whether you carry extra changes of clothes around or constantly scope out the location of bathrooms, sometimes accidents simply seem unavoidable.Dealing with the embarrassment, mess, and smell of urinary leakage accidents can literally be a pain in the rear. That’s why most women with this condition do everything they can do to avoid accidents. Luckily, there are steps you can take to prevent urine leakage. Below are three that help many women stay dry.

Three Steps to Avoid Urinary Leakage Accidents
While there are many ways to avoid leaking urine while you are out and about, here are three of the simplest steps that will help you stay dry.

Step 1: Stick to a Bathroom Schedule
By now scouting bathroom locations might be second nature for you. Since you have taken such pains to find bathrooms everywhere you go, maximize the “map of bathrooms” in your head by using those bathrooms on a schedule.

To make use of a bathroom schedule, you first have to figure out how long you can go between bathroom visits. To find out, time yourself during the day. If you can hold your urine for about an hour before you absolutely must go, then start with a bathroom schedule that has you going to the bathroom every hour, whether you feel the need to go or not.

Once you can stick to the hour-long bathroom schedule, your next goal is to extend the gaps in your bathroom schedule by 10 minutes. For instance, if your current bathroom schedule is on an hourly basis, extend the time between visits by 10 minutes, so that you are visiting the bathroom every 70 minutes. Keep extending the gaps between bathroom breaks in this way until you are going to the bathroom every 2-3 hours.

Finally, be sure to stick to your schedule. Congratulations, you have just trained your bladder by using a bathroom schedule. As a result, you should be able to avoid embarrassing urine leakage accidents.

Step 2: Take Your Time in the Bathroom
Once you’ve got a bathroom schedule down pat, the next step is to take your time in the bathroom and practice something called “double voiding.” To double void, urinate and then relax for a bit. Then urinate again. This is double voiding, and ensures that you really empty your bladder. You may be experiencing leakage accidents because you don’t fully empty your bladder when you urinate. Taking your time when you are in the bathroom and practicing double voiding will help you avoid urine leakage accidents.

Step 3: Try the Tampon Trick
This last step is as simple as it is effective – just wear a tampon to decrease urine leakage. A tampon exerts pressure on the urethra, and adds a little extra support “down there.” Wearing a tampon is especially useful to avoid leakage accidents when you jog, exercise, or participate in activities that usually cause leakage.

Simple Solutions for Women’s Urinary Incontinence
Conservative tips like the ones mentioned in this article help many women with urinary incontinence avoid leakage accidents. Of course, not all tips works for all women all the time, but these simple tips are worth a try. Remember, with conservative therapies for women’s urinary incontinence, you might have to try a variety of options (or combination of options) before you find what works for you. The key is to be persistent and not give up!

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If you suffer from urinary incontinence, then you probably know that protecting your skin is really important. Women with urinary incontinence have a higher risk of rashes and skin problems than normal. This is because skin is normally acidic, which keeps harmful bacteria away, but when skin comes in contact with urine it becomes moist and more alkaline.The resulting moist alkaline environment can no longer keep bacteria and yeast away, which can eventually lead to rashes and skin infections. That’s why it is important to take extra care of your skin if you have urine leakage.

How to Protect Your Skin After Urine Leakage
Protecting your skin is especially important after a urine leakage accident. To care for your skin right after urine leakage, take the following steps:

• Use mild soap and cool water to wash your skin. Be thorough, including cleaning skin folds well.
• Rinse well with cool water, and be sure to rinse off all the soap residue (soap residue causes dry skin, which can cause further irritation).
• Pat your skin dry with a clean cloth or air dry. Resist rubbing, as this can chafe your skin.
• If you wash your skin frequently, you might want to consider using disposable wipes or a perineal cleanser. These products contain milder cleansing agents, some are also pH-balanced for the skin and have antimicrobials that act against harmful bacteria.

Finally, if you have frequent urine leakage, you want to consider putting a moisture barrier on your skin. Products that contain lanolin or petroleum jelly work well. Other products to consider include cortisone cream to guard against rash and skin irritation, and anti-fungal powder to keep your skin dry.

When it comes to women’s urinary incontinence, possibly the most neglected segment of the population is the segment of post-partum women.

Millions of post-partum women are shocked when they return to their pre-delivery lifestyle and find themselves leaking during their morning jog or every time they pick up their baby. These women often have no idea that vaginal deliveries can damage the pelvic floor muscles, causing UI symptoms.

Get this:

Studies indicate that women who have given birth are two-and-a-half times as likely to suffer from urinary incontinence than women who have never given birth.

Lack of satisfying sex can be another unexpected result of having a baby, with 22-86 percent of post-partum women experiencing short term changes in sexual function. While most of these women love being mothers, they are often surprised by the UI and sexual issues that come with the baby.

Unfortunately many post-partum women are told to do Kegel exercises but are not necessarily instructed on how to do these exercises correctly. Of the women who are given written instructions on how to do Kegels, 50% of them are unable to do a correct pelvic floor contraction. They experience poor results and simply assume that Kegels are ineffective.

Luckily, there are steps any post-partum mother can take to ensure that not only is she doing a correct Kegel, but that the Kegels will be effective for her. One good place to start would be with our “What’s Up Down There?” ebook, which offers 2 simple home tests so you can discover the strength of your pelvic floor plus troubleshooting directions for how to do a correct Kegel!

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

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Women’s urinary incontinence is estimated to affect over 18 million women in the United States. We have to estimate that number because half the women who do have urinary incontinence never seek help, so the real numbers are hard to pin down.

Nevertheless, women’s urinary incontinence is becoming a very prevalent condition, as common as diabetes or arthritis, and it affects women of all ages, not just women of the baby boomer generation.

So why don’t more women seek help?

The Case of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
A quick look at the statistics tells a powerful story of why more women suffering from urinary incontinence don’t get help.

• Women’s urinary incontinence is rarely brought up during routine doctor visits.
• 25% of women surveyed said they were too embarrassed to raise the issue.
• 68% of doctors say it is difficult to treat patients who are too embarrassed to talk about their health problem.
• Urinary incontinence tops of the list “embarrassing issues” women won’t raise with their doctor.
• 64% surveyed felt that their urinary incontinence wasn’t enough of a problem, so they didn’t bring it up.
• Only 30% of family practice doctors routinely raise the issue.

Are you starting to get the picture here? As a health condition that really needs to be addressed, urinary incontinence is stuck in the strange limbo between “Don’t ask” and “Don’t tell.”

What to Do About “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
The person with the greatest power in this limbo of “don’t ask, don’t tell” is you, of course. If you have women’s urinary incontinence, then the best way to ensure that you get the help you need is to be a strong health advocate for yourself. Make an appointment with your doctor specifically to discuss this issue. Then prepare yourself to get the most out of your appointment. Here are some articles that might you do just that:

Find the Right Doctor
What Questions Will Your Doctor Ask?

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Do you have women’s urinary incontinence? If so, then minimizing the odor of urine is probably a main concern for you. Luckily, there are steps you can take to minimize odors if you do have a urine leakage accident.For instance, to reduce urine odors you can:

– Stay Hydrated: If you become dehydrated, your urine will become more concentrated and have a stronger smell.

– Take Urine Deodorizing Supplements: Supplements like Vitamin C contain ascorbic acid, which lower the pH of your urine and decrease its smell. Non-citrus juices such as cranberry, apple, pear, and cherry also work well. In addition, you can try deodorizing products such as Nullo.

– Avoid Certain Foods and Drinks: Certain foods and drinks, such as asparagus or coffee, can increase the odor of urine. Avoid these kinds of foods to lessen the odor of urine.

– Clean with Vinegar or Baking Soda: Clean your clothing or mattress with either baking soda or vinegar to eliminate odors. Use two parts water with one part white vinegar, or two parts water with one part baking soda. Avoid using bleach, which is harsh and does not dissolve urine crystals well.

– Use Good Hygiene: One of the best ways to avoid urine odor is to practice good hygiene. Keep yourself and your clothes clean.

– Use Scented Pads or Liners: Scented absorbent products can often combat the odor of urine after a leakage accident.

All of these steps can help you feel more confident as you go about your day, in spite of urinary incontinence. Since urine odor tops the list of “embarrassing situations” for women with urinary incontinence, knowing that you smell fresh is important, and hopefully these tips will help!

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When it comes to coping with women’s urinary incontinence, choosing the right absorbent products can be very important. Having the right products can help you deal with urine leakage accident without embarrassment or extra hassle.Absorbent Products for Women’s Urinary Incontinence
Choosing the right absorbent products to deal with urinary incontinence depends on the severity of your leakage. For instance, if you only leak light amounts of urine, up to ¾ of a cup, then panty liners or sanitary pads will usually do the job.

For more moderate to heavy leakage, more than ¾ of a cup, you will be better off using specific products designed for urinary incontinence. These include open-sided undergarments, protective underwear, fitted briefs, and refastenable underwear. These are the typical kinds of products that fall into the category of “adult diapers.”

Luckily, today’s adult diapers are much more streamlined and comfortable than baby diapers. Many of the products are made of soft cloth-like material, and feel similar to regular underwear.

There are also re-usable versions of urinary incontinence products, which usually consist of a plastic or rubber outer protective layer, and replaceable pads on the inside. While these re-usable products cost less to use than disposable products (which can cost $200-$400 per month and are usually not covered by insurance), many women find these products uncomfortable to wear because they do not “breathe.”

Products for Women’s Urinary Incontinence
The bottom line for choosing the right absorbent product to deal with your urinary incontinence is that you will probably have to try several different products and brands before you find a solution that fits. Your choice needs to do three things:

1. Handle your urinary leakage issues
2. Fit your budget
3. Meet your comfort needs

There is, of course, always the option of exploring treatment options for women’s urinary incontinence with your doctor. Coping with urine leakage is one thing … curing it is a whole different approach. Even if you have already tried a conservative therapy or two for urine leakage, you shouldn’t be discouraged if they didn’t cure your problem right away. Sometimes a combination of multiple conservative therapies may be needed, or even minor surgery, to correct your urinary incontinence.

If you still seek more solutions for your urinary incontinence, these resources may help:

Find the Right Doctor
Discreet Online Resources for Women’s Urinary Incontinence