Leaky moments – from bladder weakness

To understand leaky issues, which come with bladder weakness (urinary incontinence), it helps to know how your urinary system works. Our kidneys help us to filter substances from the blood stream, sending waste liquid (urine) to our bladder. The bladder is a muscular bag, capable of stretching like a balloon, to hold 350ml or a little more.

When it is about half-full, signals are sent to the brain telling us we need to relieve ourselves. Pee leaves the bladder down a tube called the urethra. This is kept closed by the sphincter, made up of two rings of muscle. The inner sphincter muscle will open when the bladder is full, but the outer muscle allows us to hold in the pee and maintain control as we release it. The pelvic floor muscles beneath the bladder and around the urethra, help to keep the sphincter muscles working properly However, for 12 per cent of the women, this doesn’t work as it should, causing urinary incontinence. The causes of this could be some dysfunction in the brain, in the nervous system, the bladder or surrounding areas.

What makes bladder weakness more likely?

Pregnancy • Childbirth • Age Obesity and body mass • Hormones • Diabetes • Urinary Tract Infections • Impaired physical function • Cognitive impairment • Depression • Menopause Physical activity Smoking, coughing and chronic lounge disease • Family history and genetics.

How common is bladder weakness?

About 7 per cent of all the people suffer from incontinence: men, women and children of all ages can experience it at some point in their lives. This translates to over 2 million Kenyans. Out of the over 2 million Kenyans with this condition, over 1.5 million of them are ladies.

Choosing absorbent incontinence products
These products will boost your confidence and generally improve your quality of life. They can be used in combination with treatment—where treatment is yet to be successful.

There is a wide range of products available in the market. Different types suit different people and it’s best to try smaller products first before moving onto to larger and more absorbent varieties. The following table offers a guide to suitable products depending on the degree of urine leakage you are experiencing.

The most inclusive definitions of bladder weakness are in the range of 25-45 per cent of females. 40 per cent of women have experienced bladder weakness in connection with childbirth and pregnancy.

25 per cent of women years and over have experienced bladder weakness problems.
15 per cent of women 40 years and over have regular or daily bladder weakness problems.

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