Stress urinary incontinence is thus a prevalent but frequently embarrassing condition in many people especially females. This happens when muscles and other tissues that form the pelvic floor that hold the bladder become weak, causing the person to urinate without control whenever an action is carried out that puts pressure on the abdominal muscles including coughing, sneezing, laughing or exercising. The condition is likely to affect the persons’ quality of life they experience embarrassment, social isolation and a reduced level of physical activities. But there are certain techniques and therapies that can be practiced and implemented for a drastic decrease in the symptoms which can allow persons to attain back their control and confidence to lead normal life.
Pelvic floor muscle exercise also known and known as Kegel exercises in the medical records is one of the best practice. These muscles if exercised can help improve on the control of bladder thereby minimizing situations where urine is leaked. Pelvic floor training on the other hand should meet this factor of training by being consistent and adopting the right techniques. Once these muscles are identified motor control can be achieved by holding the contraction for a few seconds and then releasing it; the program then gradually intensifies the exercises over time. It could be weeks, or even months until one sees a difference, however, most reduce their symptoms with practice.
Non surgical approaches, such as PT have an important role in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence and these, along with other lifestyle changes are detailed below. Bringing down body weight should be used because being overweight or obese contributes to pressure on the bladder and the pelvic floor muscles hence worsening the condition. A well- balanced diet that is high in fibre is also effective in eliminating constipation– another cause of urinary incontinence. Hence, eliminating bladder irritants including caffeine, alcohol, and acidic foods is the best way to avoid the development of urge and reducing leakage episodes. Smokers are also advised to cease smoking for the same reason because coughing frequently due to smoking puts pressure on the pelvic floor muscles hence weakening them.
Other treatments which can also be of much help when it comes to stress urinary incontinence include behavioural therapies like bladder training. Bladder training entails discouraging immediate response to the urge and Frequency manage stress urinary incontinence which entails setting time intervals for bathroom visits. This also assists in increasing the amount of time for urinestorage in the bladder and lowers the chances of accidental urination during exercises. At first, patients may have a strong urge to urinate at much shorter intervals and the bladder capacity can be trained again, and the intervals between these visits can be increased. It entails quite a lot of time and effort, however, this method yields the best results in the long run concerning control of bladder.
Some people may need the medical treatments as the next step, when they do not find enough relief in the attractive interventions such as pelvic floor exercises, lifestyle changes, behavioural therapies etc. These treatments include medications, to even surgeries in severe cases depending on the degree of osteoporosis. Some of the possible treatments may include topical estrogens since after menopause, a woman often has low levels of this hormone, which causes the urethral tissue to become weak. Another non- surgical treatment plan is estrogen therapy that can help on strengthening and stretching the urethral tract hence decreasing the chances of developing urine leakage.
The above conservative measure may not be sufficient and surgical treatments be used in severe instances. Another operation is the placement of a sling, which is a small piece of synthetic material or tissue, or transplant which sits below the urethra to support it. This commonly called a ‘sling’ assists in ensuring that the urethra is shut during activities that raise the abdominal pressure and this can lead to this condition. Other surgical procedures which can be used include injection of agents into the area around the urethra with a view of increasing the closure pressure. These procedures are fairly beneficial but of course these treatments are often administer to patients who do not manifest improvement towards other treatments.
