Urinary incontinence is no fun. The percentage of the population, especially for women, is alarmingly high for urinary incontinence in the United States. Thankfully, research continues to make strides to help figure out risk factors, co-morbidities, and treatment techniques to help reduce this growing population.
So what IS urinary incontinence? Picture the phrase: “Urinary Incontinence (UI)” as an umbrella term… and underneath that you would see little arrows towards these subtypes: 1. Stress Urinary Incontinence 2. Urgency Urinary Incontinence and 3. Mixed Urinary Incontinence (1&2). Those are going to be today’s topics!
It is important to recognize that UI is only leakage of urine from the urethra – this does not refer to going number 2 or having a bowel movement. That can be another topic, on another day.
Let’s chat about #1: Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI). This occurs when a man or woman leaks urine when they cough, sneeze, jump, run, or undergo any type of “stressor”. Think of it like an event or action has to happen for the incontinence to happen. This is unfortunately very common, and can happen in new mothers who try to return to running, working out, jumping on the trampoline with their kids, or just sneeze during allergy season!
When we discuss #2: Urge Urinary Incontinence. This is when the urine leakage is associated with a strong urge to go to the bathroom – followed by uncontrolled urine leaks. This is often very frustrating for women, and it can lead to creating very unhealthy bladder habits… such as going to the bathroom more often, going “just in case” before getting in the car, and even going during the night.
As you can probably guess, #3 is a mixture of both of those types of incontinence!! I think it is important to state that every person and situation is different. I would not necessarily say one type or situation is easier to treat than others. A skilled physical therapist, and a caring healthcare provider should recognize that incontinence symptoms are not normal, and refer you to the appropriate treatment (such as pelvic floor therapy).
If you are suffering any of these symptoms, please know that you are not alone. You are not weird, you are not abnormal. It is just a temporary condition that needs to be treated appropriately. Remember that your doctor can only help you, if you report the symptoms. It can feel like it is an embarrassing situation, but trust me, from a healthcare provider perspective – it is not embarrassing. Health care providers see it in a totally different light. So don’t be afraid! Call your doc (PT or MD) today and get started with treatment!
If you feel like you have questions that weren’t addressed in this (very) brief blog over UI, then please feel free to contact me and I would be ecstatic to answer any additional questions!
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