Oooops! Because of stress: urinary incontinence

Urinary incontinence is when one loses urine from the body uncontrollably. It happens to both women and men. Stress incontinence however occurs mostly in women. It happens because the sphincter, which acts as the gate to your bladder, can’t stay closed when there is pressure in the abdomen. As a result, the sphincter opens slightly allowing a small amount of urine to leak. This is common when you:

1. Cough, laugh or sneeze
2. Exercise (particularly jumping)
3. Lift or do any movement that puts pressure on the bladder
4. Have sex (particularly when your partner enters your body
5. When getting out of bed or standing from a seat.

The more the sphincter is weakened, the more urine leaks. So, what causes the sphincter’s weakening?

1. Pregnancy: Carrying the increasing weight of baby for nine months puts stress on your pelvic floor. The thing is that during pregnancy, the hormone relaxing softens the muscles of the pelvic floor to make it ready for birth. This in turn weakens the sphincter muscles.
2. Childbirth: If you have a vaginal delivery, the nerves around your pelvic floor may get stretched and bruised. This may compromise the proper functioning of the pelvic floor which includes the work of the sphincter muscles.
3. Weight: This means more pressure on your abdomen, which in turn puts more pressure on your pelvic floor.
4. Hysterectomy: This is an operation to remove the womb (uterus). It can cause damage to the pelvic floor weakening it.
5. Smoking: A chronic cough, which can come from smoking, puts pressure on the pelvic floor making stress urinary incontinence.
6. Menopause: After menopause your oestrogen levels are lower. This can make muscle pressure around yoururethra weaker and leaks more likely. Your urethra may be less elastic and less able to close completely.Postmenopausal ladies are also more likely to be overweight-a mentioned cause of stress urinary incontinence.
7. Inheritance – This is however rare.
8. Some medication may also affect the pelvic floor.Examples are alpha-blockers used to treat high blood pressure, some antidepressants and sedatives, and some muscle-relaxant drugs.
9. Faulty surgery.

Treating/managing it
There are various ways of preventing the disease but treatment can be challenging. Stress urinary incontinence is generally managed by non-drug methods such as:

1. Changing your lifestyle e.g. stopping smoking, watching/losing weight and taking care about fluid intake.
2. Pelvic floor exercises.
3. Corrective drugs
4. Surgery

END: PG 36 /41