Common
Questions about
Female Urinary Incontinence:
Who Does This Information Relate To?
· Every female over the age of 16.
Who Is Especially At Risk?
· Girls involved in high impact sports.
· Women planning to have children or have already given birth.
· Menopausal women.
Prevalence of Bladder / Pelvic
Floor Dysfunction
· 25 million Americans suffer from urinary incontinence.
· 1.5 million Canadians suffer from urinary incontinence.
· The Mayo Clinic reports that 50% of women will experience
urinary incontinence at some point in their lives.
· More than 50-100 million people worldwide have overactive
bladders.
· 20 million Americans suffer from Paruresis; fear of being
heard urinating in public washrooms.
· It is estimated that 43 million American women over the
age of 65 will have a pelvic organ prolapse by 2030.
What Can Be Done?
· Education, Awareness, Prevention, Treatment (diet &
lifestyle alterations, proper strengthening exercises, physiotherapy,
pharmaceutical and surgical options).
· Few people seek help due
to embarrassment, social stigma with urinary incontinence, and the
fallacy that nothing can be done to help. Millions of women could
improve their symptoms with simple diet changes and exercise. It's
time for women to take a pro-active approach to promoting a healthy
pelvic floor!
Female Urinary Incontinence
Preventable / Treatable
/ Curable
Preventable
The pelvic floor muscle is an extremely underrated
and often neglected area of the body. Thankfully, it is also quite
resilient and forgiving. It takes only a small amount of consideration
and exercise for this muscle to respond positively. It is often
injured with pregnancy, vaginal delivery, constipation, the strain
of a chronic cough, or the effects of obesity. In spite of all these
common methods of injury, the pelvic floor muscle is rarely given
even the slightest amount of attention. Now is the time to recognize
the significant contribution made by the pelvic floor muscle and
to promote its protection through strengthening!
The pelvic floor musculature has three very important
functions:
· Sphincteric
A weakened or injured pelvic floor may no longer effectively close
off the urethral and rectal openings and urinary and fecal incontinence
may result.
· Supportive
The pelvic floor muscle is responsible for supporting the internal
pelvic organs, such as the bladder, uterus, rectum and intestines.
Weakness or injury to the pelvic floor can allow the organs to fall
downward instead of supporting them in their proper positions.
· Sexual
Laxity or weakness in the pelvic floor muscle may lead to a decrease
in sexual appreciation and sensation.
By being pro-active and keeping your pelvic floor
healthy and strong, you may prevent the need for future surgery
such as bladder lifts or hysterectomy.
Top
Treatable
A proper home exercise program and change in diet
is all that is needed for most women to improve their bladder control.
For other women medical intervention is required. Women have many
choices of treatment options and should decide on the treatment
approach most appropriate for their symptoms.
I Laughed So Hard I Peed My Pants! A Woman's Essential
Guide for Improved Bladder Control offers information in all
of these areas. This guide provides education on how diet and lifestyle
can negatively affect bladder control and simple, illustrated exercise
instruction to properly complete a home program. You will learn
how to progress your exercise program to continually challenge your
muscle and receive tips on how to fit these exercises into your
busy schedule. This book also describes the most clinically advanced
medical options in the areas of physiotherapy, pharmaceutical, and
surgical treatment.
Top
Curable
Urinary incontinence can inflict immense pain and
devastating emotional consequence to the women affected as well
as their loved ones. Sadly, it can diminish one's self-esteem and
impede both social and physical activity. Thankfully, there is much
that can be done to prevent and improve this situation. Most women
show significant reduction or even resolution of their symptoms
with simple home exercises and diet adjustments. Others who may
have extensive weakness or damage to the pelvic floor musculature
may require medical attention in addition to their home exercise
program. Overall, there are numerous treatment options to choose
from and it is important to find those most appropriate to your
lifestyle and medical status. Urinary incontinence is not an acceptable
or natural part of childbirth and aging. It is time to take back
control of your bladder!
Top
Notes:
1. Consumer Focus: A Survey 1999, National
Association For Continence (NAFC), Spartanburg, SC, 1999; 4.
2. Is urine leakage keeping you from Sex?
Laughing? Golf? Socializing? The Canadian Continence Foundation.
2000. Pamphlet.
3. What is Urinary Incontinence?MayoClinic.com.
On-line. Internet. June 9 2002. Available http://www.mayoclinic.com
4. Nitti VW. Clinical Impact of Overactive
Bladder. Rev Urol. 2002;4(suppl 4):S2-S6.
5. Soifer, S. Paruresis or Shy Bladder Syndrome:
The Little Known Urinary Problem. The Informer. The Canadian Incontinence
Foundation. Winter 2002;3,(1):3.
6. Shull BL. Pelvic Organ Prolapse: Anterior,
Superior, and Posterior Vaginal Segment Defects. Am J Obstet Gynecol
1999; 181:6-11.
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