Your bladder is an organ which functions to keep urine until you’re ready to go to the bathroom. However, if your bladder leaks urine during the day and night, or when you practice physical activity, cough, or sneeze, you may be suffering from a medical condition called urinary incontinence. While urinary incontinence can be quite debilitating, disrupting your sleep and daily routine, it is also a common and manageable condition.
In fact, getting a diagnosis and treatment at the earliest signs of urinary incontinence can help you manage this condition more effectively. What’s more, it can also help to reduce the risk of complications and help you get back to the things that matter most. In this article, we will discuss some of the early symptoms of urinary incontinence and what to do about them.
What is Urinary Incontinence?
Essentially, urinary incontinence means unintentionally passing urine. It is usually classified into three types: stress incontinence, urge incontinence, and mixed incontinence. Stress incontinence is defined as the leaking of urine during exercise, coughing, or sneezing. In contrast, urge incontinence refers to sudden, unpredictable, and overwhelming urges to urinate, with some leaking of urine. Finally, mixed incontinence involves symptoms of both of these, and is the most common type of urinary incontinence.
What Causes Urinary Incontinence?
Urinary incontinence can be caused by various medical conditions that impact pelvic muscles involved in bladder control. Some of the most common causes of urinary incontinence include the following:
- Pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause for women
- Enlarged prostate or prostate surgery for men
- Pelvic surgery
- Pelvic organ prolapse
- Disorders affecting the pelvic floor
- Being overweight
- Certain medications
- Urinary tract infections
- Diabetes
What are the Early Signs of Urinary Incontinence?
While having urinary incontinence usually does not usually indicate having a life-threatening underlying medical condition, it is essential to address your symptoms at their onset for early diagnosis and intervention. Here are some of the first signs of urinary incontinence.
- Frequent trips to the bathroom: Making frequent trips to the bathroom is often one of the first signs of developing urinary incontinence. If you find yourself frequently having the urge to urinate, even if you did not drink a lot of fluids, it can mean that your bladder is struggling to hold urine. If you have noticed a pattern of having to go to the bathroom many times a day, this is something important to mention to your doctor.
- Not being able to reach a toilet in time: One of the most common and frustrating early symptoms of urinary incontinence is having small urine leak accidents due to not being able to make it to the bathroom in time. While it may seem like nothing serious, this symptom usually indicates having weaker bladder or pelvic muscles, which make it difficult for the bladder to hold urine. If not addressed properly, these symptoms can get worse with time.
- Having small “accidents” during everyday activities: Have you ever had small bladder leak accidents when you were laughing or even walking up the stairs? While having some minor bladder leaks during daily activities such as working out may seem like no big deal, this is actually an important early sign of bladder control issues. If you have noticed yourself experiencing this on a regular occasion, it is time to discuss it with your healthcare practitioner.
- Frequent nighttime urination: While you may be tempted to write off this symptom due to drinking too much liquid before going to bed, its recurrence often points to early bladder incontinence symptoms. If you are waking up multiple times during the night to go to the bathroom, or even having some accidents during your sleep, it is important to bring up these issues with your doctor.
- Leaking urine without any warning or urge: Experiencing urine leaks without any warning or urge is often one of the first signs of pelvic floor issues and urinary incontinence. It can happen out of the blue, when you are going about your day, standing still or moving about, wreaking havoc on your daily activities. The good news is that this does not need to be a normal part of your life, and it’s essential to seek treatment for this problem as soon as you notice it.
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What are the treatment options for urinary incontinence?
Treatment solutions for the most common types of urinary incontinence include bladder training and pelvic muscle exercises, which are both effective solutions that can help with symptom management and prevention. Special exercises called Kegel exercises can be used to help strengthen the muscles, control bladder function, and help resolve symptoms of urinary incontinence.
How does the Freedom+ Chair treat incontinence?
Using innovative technology, the Freedom Chair stimulates and strengthens pelvic floor muscles with functional magnetic stimulation (FMS) pulses. It can successfully treat urinary incontinence symptoms while also improving sexual health by delivering an equivalent of 25,000 supramaximal muscle contractions during a single treatment session. Freedom Chair™ is also non-invasive and convenient, delivering pelvic muscle strengthening treatment while you can sit on it fully clothed.
Book Your Freedom+ Chair™ Treatment at Aniyah Care
At Aniyah Care, we offer individual treatment approaches for pelvic floor disorders designed to address the root causes of symptoms while delivering the highest standard of care. If you suffer from urinary incontinence symptoms, schedule your Freedom+ Chair session with us today. You can also contact us by filling out our contact form, calling us at (905) 487-4411 (toll-free), or sending an email to info@aniyahcare.com.