Treating Incontinence

There are different treatment options for each type of incontinence. Stress, overflow, urge and mixed are the four types of incontinence.

Stress Incontinence is when urine loss is experienced when the patient is coughing, laughing or sneezing or doing a physical activity like running. The treatment options for stress incontinence are:

* Injectable

* Medications

* Nonsurgical treatments

* And surgical treatments

Urge incontinence is when you feel you have an urgent need to void because of involuntary bladder contractions called "detrusor instability". The treatment options for urge incontinence are:

Medications

Nonsurgical treatments

And surgical treatments

Overflow incontinence is when you experience a constant dribbling of urine. The bladder never completely empties of urine.

The treatment options for overflow incontinence are:

Intermittent self-catherization

Medications

Here are some things that you can do to improve your incontinence:

Do not take antidepressants, antihistamines, cough or cold medicines or diuretics

You can learn how to perform "kegel exercises" and do them daily

Practice doing what is called "double voiding". This is when you void, wait a few seconds and then void again.

Have a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. This will prevent constipation.

Do some bladder retraining by urinating only every 3 to 6 hours.

Nicotine irritates the bladder, so if you smoke, it is important to stop smoking.

There are some items that you can purchase and use that will help you to manage any accidental urine accidents and prevent further embarrassment. These items are:

Underwear liners that can be inserted in your underwear such as guards, inserts, pads or shields.

Pads for your bed, a pad/pant combination system

Adult diapers that are either disposable or reusable.

Full-length absorbent undergarments

Incontinence drip collectors for males

If you start using any type of pads before receiving a diagnosis and before using other treatments you may come to rely on the pads and start to accept the incontinence without trying other treatments that could improve your symptoms.

There are naturopathic treatments for urinary incontinence that you can do too. These are:

Kegel exercises. Doing these can be very effective when the cause of incontinence is poor muscle tone.

Women who are going through menopause may experience incontinence due to estrogen levels decreasing. Eating plant estrogens called phytoestrogens is a safe and easy way to naturally improve your symptoms. Foods that contain phytoestrogens are:

Soy milk

Soy nuts that are roasted

Soy protein powder

Textured soy protein

Tofu

Soy isoflavones are available in capsule form from neighborhood health food stores or the nutritional sections of local grocery stores.

If your incontinence is not caused by physical or neurological issues than improvement may be possible by determining if there are sensitivity or irritability/chronic inflammation issues that occur in the bladder or urethra. Irritability and inflammation can be caused by food sensitivities. By identifying foods you are sensitive to you can then change you diet avoiding these foods. You can determine which foods you are sensitive to by keeping an elimination and challenge diet.

Soothe your urinary tract with urinary tract tonics.

It is also important to eat fresh foods that have been unrefined, fresh and whole such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, soy, beans, nuts and cold-water fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines, halibut and mackerel.

It is important to avoid consuming sugar, dairy, refined foods, fried foods, junk foods, and also caffeine.

You need to drink 50% of your body weight in ounces of water daily.

Recommended Reading

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