I Had Surgery for Stress Incontinence and Now I Have Urge Incontinence! What Happened?

There are multiple types of incontinence, and I have discussed them on my SharePost blog previously. What happens when you have been diagnosed with stress incontinence and have undergone surgery and you are still wet? Stress incontinence is traditionally the type of incontinence where one loses bladder control with a cough, sneeze, laugh, or activity.

For the most part, surgical correction is the best way to treat it. I am not going to go into the details of surgeries for stress incontinence. But, I do want to discuss what happens when after surgery you end up with urge incontinence.

Urge incontinence is what is often referred to as overactive bladder (watch a video about overactive bladder). It is where the bladder muscles squeeze without a signal from the brain. It may just cause frequency of urination, but some people have leakage of urine.

So, here you are, having had surgery for your stress incontinence, and now you find that you have increased frequency of urine and even loss of urine unexpectedly, not related to activity like is was before. This is very frustrating, but it has a name - De Novo Urge incontinence. De Novo is Latin for "new." This means that you have acquired a new type of incontinence after getting a different type fixed.

I recently read a journal article that reports about 27% of people (mostly women) have urge incontinence after surgery for stress incontinence. This is a remarkably high number in my opinion, but I do find it is often true. No one knows how to predict who is at risk to have urge incontinence after surgery.

There is good news, however. Post-operative urge incontinence is easily treated with medications. There are at least five different medications on the market for overactive bladder. I truly don't believe that one works better than the other for this situation, and not every medication works well on every person, so it may take some trial and error before you find one that works well for you. Even better news, most people don't need to be on the medications forever either. Sometimes you just need to retrain your bladder for three to six months with the medications.

So why does this happen? There are many theories for this. I think it is because of the bladder's personality. Imagine that your bladder has not had to hold very much urine over the years and was able to leak whenever it felt like it. Now, after surgery, it has to do its job even better and hold more. You probably lost capacity over time, but by taking medications for a few months, you can train the bladder to hold more.

If you find that after surgery, you are having these problems, please go back and see your surgeon. There are some other situations that can cause these symptoms that are more serious, and would need to be evaluated. The important thing to remember is to not get discouraged, and there is an easy solution!

Behavioural Therapy and Male Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is a condition that affects millions of men worldwide and it is caused by a variety of reasons. One of the most prominent cause is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a natural enlargement of the prostate gland that occurs as a natural part of aging.

First of all don’t panic just because I said it is natural enlargement of the prostate and it happens as men age, this doesn’t mean that all men will have incontinence at some point in life.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH is related to age factors such as uncontrolled hormone balance and causes commonly known as “overflow incontinence“. This type of incontinence occurs when a certain individual is unable to empty their bladder completely during a deliberate urination session due to constriction or blockage of the urethra, in BPH cases the enlargement of the prostate blocks the urethra.

Since the bladder depends on a clear urethra to empty itself properly, pressure can build up inside and force urine out past the blockage without warning.

The first line of defence against BPH is behavioural therapy. Maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle will help preserve muscle tone in the pelvic area. Some say that sex is also a good way to prevent BPH as regular ejaculation helps maintain muscle tone in the pelvic and urinary sphincter area, but unfortunately there is no medical evidence to back this claim.

Not to worry if you haven’t lived a healthy life up until now, there are a number of therapies available to help you improve you condition. Bladder retraining and Biofeedback are two of them.

With bladder retraining you will learn how to strengthen the bladder muscles and adjust urinating time spans by voiding at repetitive, timed intervals. This will improve the bladder’s capacity and extend the interval between voiding.

Biofeedback is also a type of behavioural therapy, where a simple instrument detects when a chosen muscle relaxes or contracts and provides a secondary method of feedback for the patient, such as a light or sound. The added feedback allows patients to exercise and improve control of selected muscles.

It is important to highlight the fact that with incontinence there isn’t a set treatment for all patients, each case should be accessed individually. Because what works for one patient might not work for others. So our last piece of advice is, if you are experiencing some sort incontinence episodes talk to your GP and let him suggest what is the best treatment for your type of incontinence.

Prostate Cancer and Bladder Weakness

For men prostate cancer is like breast cancer for women, many are concerned when they hear these words. Currently prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in men here in the UK. According to the NHS 35,000 men are diagnosed with it every year and one man dies every hour of the disease.

I must confess I was baffled when I first read these figures. To be honest I was more scared than baffled. Why? For the simple fact that it is also the second most deadliest cancer, behind only lung cancer.

In most cases cancer is a hereditary disease, but there are ways to prevent this malignant menace.

1. Healthy Diet based on anit-prostate cancer foods
2. Healthy sex life
3. Aerobic Exercises
4. Eat more Cereal high in Flax

Source: Ask Men

A common side-effect of prostate cancer is bladder weakness; currently the condition affects 3.6 million UK men, making it just as common as asthma or arthritis.

With both disease and condition closely related Tena Men made a partnership with The Prostate Cancer Charity. The partnership is aimed to support men with prostate problems, whilst highlighting possible side effects, such as bladder weakness, and encouraging them to seek help and advice.

Tena is also using the partnership to promote the re-launch of its Tena Men incontinence products range. The product range remains the same, with Level 1 and Level 2 available, but packaging has been changed to become more masculine, more discreet and more consumer-friendly.

We will be discussing Tena Men incontinence products range in more detail in future posts. For now, all of us here at Allanda we wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

New Male Urinary Incontinence products

Although 1 in 10 of the male population over 65 experience urinary incontinence, until recently the taboos around male incontinence have been even greater than those surrounding the condition for women.

However, we are seeing this situation slowly changing, helped by an increasing number of products specifically designed for male use.

We’ve just added Lil for Men products to our male incontinence products range, both Lil for Men Extra and Lil for Men Super offer a large coverage area for extra security and are discreet and comfortable to wear.

These additions to our range supplement the recently relaunched Tena Men’s range which is now known as TENA Men. The packaging of these products has been changed to become more masculine, more discreet and more consumer-friendly although the product range remains the same, with Tena Men Level 1 and Tena Men Level 2 both available. The improved side elastics allow for greater comfort and ensure a better fit to the body. TENA Men incontinence pads also contain their unique Odour Control™ system that neutralises potential odours for complete confidence. The re-launch of Tena Men Level 1 sees the development of the product to become smaller and more discreet.

The Benefits Of Kegel Exercises

Kegel exercises or Pelvic Floor Exercises are exercises that increase the strength of the pelvic floor muscles and are named after Dr. Arnold Kegel. They are beneficial to women of all ages especially those preparing for birth although they can also help increase sexual enjoyment. Kegel exercises are straightforward to learn and extremely easy, you can perform them in just a few minutes while laying in bed, in the car or in fact pretty much anywhere.

There are many different causes for a damaged pelvic floor and the most common is the strain brought on from vaginal childbirth therefore, strengthening the pelvic floor muscles can ease delivery and make it safer for both mother and child.

Strong pelvic muscles also help control incontinence, many women suffer from incontinence and urinary incontinence brought on by childbirth as well as conditions known as vaginal prolapse and pelvic organ prolapse. In these conditions the uterus, bladder and guts are not properly supported and this leads on to urinary tract and bladder infections as well as incontinence.

Kegel exercises for women can also help with conditions brought on by obesity, aging and naturally feeble pelvic muscles. Many women that have had problems with sexual stimulation and climax have found a great natural cure in the Kegel exercise.

Performing Kegel exercise is fairly straightforward, the general exercise is performed by simply flexing the same muscles that are used to stop the flow of urine. It is important to note that you never want to do the exercise when urinating, this can end up in incomplete emptying of the bladder. It is generally recommended that you slowly build up the time you hold the muscles and be sure to rest the muscles for a similar amount of time and you do the exercises two or 3 times a day.

NHS approves new pelvic muscles’ toner

Pelvic floor exercises are widely known as one of the most effective treatment for urinary stress incontinence but a lack of orientation from GP’s and the NHS itself has devalued this practice. Nevertheless, things are about to change thanks to brand new device called the Pelvic Toner.

It’s been 60 years since Arnold Kegel developed its worldwide famous exercise programme, also known as Pelvic Floor Exercises, to strengthen pelvic floor muscles and reduce the episodes of stress incontinence in women. But as afore mentioned scarcity of resources and information led women to loose faith in this practice.

The main reason was that they were simply handed a sheet of paper with instructions to use unsupervised. With PelvicToner things are about to change, following an extremely successful clinical trial and a robust cost-benefit evaluation, GP’s can now offer a more effective and faster treatment option to the millions women of all ages that present with the distressing symptoms of Stress Urinary Incontinence.

Published in the British Journal of Urology International the study reported an exceptional level of satisfaction with over 80% of PelvicToner users reporting significant improvement within a couple of weeks. Based on that the NHS has decided that the PelvicToner™ will be available on prescription with effect from January 2011. The PelvicToner will be the only product available under the brand new Drug Tariff category of Pelvic Toning Devices.

Research leader and author of the British Journal of Urology International article, Professor Marcus Drake of the Bristol Urology Institute, stated:

“Continence service provision is patchy and this sort of product empowers women, gives them better privacy and the prospect of not wasting their time. In our study the PelvicToner aided women to identify their pelvic floor confidently. It increases patient choice and may promote subsequent compliance and sustained efficacy.”

Clinical trials also confirmed that the PelvicToner is much more effective than expensive electrical stimulation devices and weighted vaginal cones reason why it has been recognised by the NHS and a special new category of ‘Pelvic Toning Devices’ has been created on the Drug Tariff IXA.

When Your Incontinence Is a Symptom of Something Else

I always find it interesting that while I am taking care of a patient for something, often another family member will say to me, "You know, I should come see you." Many times it is for incontinence, and it is something they have been dealing with for years.

Many people, women in particular, have ignored their symptoms of incontinence and overactive bladder because they felt it was all a part of aging. Many women will tell me that their mother and grandmother had incontinence and just dealt with it, so they felt they had to deal with it as well. As I have stressed time and time again, incontinence is not normal and should be evaluated first to help you get better, and second, to make sure it is not a sign of something worse.

The most serious and worrisome diagnosis in someone with urgency and frequency of urination would be cancer in the bladder. When a patient comes into my office with these symptoms, cancer is the first thing I work them up for. Incontinence for the most part is not that common, but the irritative voiding symptoms are often a first sign of a low grade cancer.

Bladder cancer is a very interesting cancer. Found at a low grade or stage is remarkably treatable by minimally invasive means. Found at later stages makes it a very challenging disease to cure. This is why all urologists are vigilant about evaluating and finding bladder cancer early. If you have signs and symptoms consistent with overactive bladder like frequently urinating and have a sudden urge to go which is hard to control, make sure you get some simple tests done instead of just allowing your physician to place you on medications.

Another situation which can cause you to have overactive bladder and some incontinence is kidney stones. Whenever I tell people this, they often report that they have no pain and wouldn't they have pain if they had a kidney stone? Not necessarily.

If you have a small stone stuck in the tube that travels from the kidney to the bladder, called the ureter, it may only cause some bladder symptoms and not necessarily pain. Recently, I found two young women who had these bladder symptoms for over a year and it was discovered that they each a kidney stone very low down irritating the bladder.

There are other causes for urgency and frequency as well, like a urinary tract infection. This too can cause incontinence. Most of the time, the testing for the above mentioned situations are easy, and I think it is worth the extra time it may take to make sure you don't have something more serious. If you are not seeking medical attention for your bladder symptoms because you don't think it is a big deal, think again. Even if you choose not to have any treatment for your incontinence, please see a doctor and make sure that is all it is!

Can I Get a New Bladder?

Incontinence - Can I Get a New Bladder? IncontinenceNetwork.comIn Incontinence?In IncontinenceEntire SiteIn IncontinenceEntire Site Top Incontinence NewsUnderstanding Urinary IncontinenceCheck a SymptomIncontinence DrugsDoctors/HospitalsClinical TrialsIncontinence Web ResourcesThe First 48 HoursPreventionTreatmentTests and ResultsTypes of IncontinenceInsurance HelpOrganize your Caregiving Community! Meet Our CommunitySee All SharepostsSee All QuestionsSupport GroupsAsk the ExpertFree Newsletter.Sign up now!EmailPassword (Forgot Password?)Remember Me Thursday, August 05, 2010Incontinence Home > SharePosts > Health Professional > Jennifer Sobol, D.O. > Can I Get a New Bladder? Font size A A A Email MoreRSS Save to My Home This helped! Can I Get a New Bladder?Related: bladder, Incontinence,  More Tags> electrical stimulation, Incontinence, new bladder, bladder surgery ,  Fewer Tags> More Topics > Jennifer Sobol, D.O. Health ProfessionalUrologic Surgeon

Jennifer Sobol, D.O., is a urologic surgeon who practices general...

Send MessageSubscribeJennifer Sobol, D.O.Wednesday, April 16, 2008View All of Jennifer Sobol, D.O.'s Posts

I am routinely asked about the possibility of transplanting a new bladder. It is an interesting thought isn't it. I mean, if you have a liver or kidneys that do not work right, then you are put on a list and hopefully will eventually receive one of these organs. Transplanting a bladder would be a wonderful option for those patients who bladders have failed them. Unfortunately, transplanting a bladder would be extremely risky and because having a working bladder is not mandatory to live, the risk is not worthwhile. That being said, having a malfunctioning bladder is no fun, and threatens a person's quality of life.

 

That doesn't mean that you are out of options if your bladder stops working. Previously I have spent a lot of time talking about incontinence. When I talk about a bladder not working, I am really specifically talking about the functions of the bladder, the ability to store urine at low pressures and the ability to eliminate urine at a low enough pressure to not transmit pressure to the kidneys. When the bladder is unable to store urine appropriately, you often end up with incontinence. There are many options to help the bladder store urine. I am going to use this share post to discuss some surgical options.

 

For a very long time the mainstay of improving bladder capacity and the ability to store urine was to augment the bladder. There are many different techniques for this, using various portions of bowel, and even stomach. Basically, we "borrow" a segment of bowel, leaving it attached to its blood supply and attach it to the bladder. This is often enough to keep a patient dry and be able to delay having to void. Unfortunately, this option usually leaves a patient with the inability to empty their bladder on their own, and most patients will have to catheterize themselves. This is the trade off. We also augment bladder when the pressures in the bladder are dangerously high and pose a threat to the kidneys.

 

For the most part, we reserve bladder augmentation for extreme cases these days. We now have other options that are less risky. I have discussed Botox in the bladder previously and this is a situation where it would really work. Neuromodulation is another option that I will discuss in another share post to come, but basically, it is a low level electrical stimulation that improves refractory urgency, frequency and incontinence due to uninhibited bladder contractions.

 

On the horizon is a very exciting possibility and it is the closest thing to a new bladder. At Wake Forest University they have been working on growing a bladder in a lab and implanting that into a person. It seems that a person's cells will be cultured and grown in a lab. Eventually the new tissue will be implanted into the bladder and eventually be completely incorporated into the native bladder. This will hopefully improve capacity, compliance and still preserve the ability to eliminate urine voluntarily. The research is moving along nicely and hopefully will be a realistic option for humans in the near future. View comments (4) |  Add commentNotify me when there are new commentsReport Abuse Email MoreRSS Save to My Home This helped! People who read this also read...can rhabdomyolysis be curedwhat causes kidney infectionsdialysis centersurethral stricture symptomslupus nephritiskidney biopsy What the community is saying...loss of bowel controlPosted 03/25 Comments (1)03/25/10 butcherTopics:Side Effectsi have had a 3...butcherProfile >>Ask a Question

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Understanding Saturated Fats

On our previous article we mentioned a study that found out that a diet low in saturated fats can reduce the occurrence of incontinence episodes. That said, we decided to dig deeper on the subject to provide our readers with more information about these fats.

According to the American Heart Association:

“Saturated fat is the main dietary cause of high blood cholesterol. Saturated fat is found mostly in foods from animals and some plants. Foods from animals include beef, beef fat, veal, lamb, pork, lard, poultry fat, butter, cream, milk, cheese and other dairy products made from whole and 2%milk. All of these foods also contain dietary cholesterol. Foods from plants that contain saturated fat include coconut, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil (often called tropical oils), and cocoa butter.”

The American Heart Association’s Nutrition Committee strongly advises these fat guidelines for those trying to live a healthy life:

* Limit total fat intake to less than 25–35 percent of your total calories each day;
* Limit saturated fat intake to less than 7 percent of total daily calories;
* Limit trans fat intake to less than 1 percent of total daily calories;
* The remaining fat should come from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as nuts, seeds, fish and vegetable oils; and
* Limit cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day, for most people.  If you have coronary heart disease or your LDL cholesterol level is 100 mg/dL or greater, limit your cholesterol intake to less than 200 milligrams a day.

For example, a sedentary female who is 31–50 years old needs about 2,000 calories each day. Therefore, she should consume less than 16 g saturated fat, less than 2 g trans fat and between 50 and 70 grams of total fat each day (with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, such as fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils).

Got any more questions about saturated fats and the influence on incontinence don’t hesitate to contact us or our nurse specialist Shona.

Treating Mixed Urinary Incontinence with Magnetic Stimulation

Mixed urinary incontinence is probably the most difficult type of incontinence to treat because leakage can occur by urgency as well as by stress. In most cases it requires a staged multimodal treatment.

A recent study published on the BJUI (British Journal of Urology International) analysed the effectiveness of a pulsating magnetic field created by a device called Pulsegen – a small pocket device designed to fit in a patient’s underwear that produces a pulsating magnetic field of B = 10 microT intensity and a frequency of 10 Hz.

Powered by a small battery with a lifespan of about 8 weeks the stimulator provides 8 weeks of continuous functional magnetic stimulation.

The study assigned 39 with mixed urinary incontinence randomly in double-blind fashion to stimulation with either an active or inactive identical device.

After a two month follow up patients who remained blinded to treatment reported the success. Patients using the active device reported a significant decrease in 24-hour voiding frequency (from 9.0 to 6.7), nocturnal (from 2.6 to 1.4), and incontinence pad use (from 3.9 to 2.2).

Overall, 42% of the patients in the active functional magnetic stimulation group reported a clinical cure compared with 23% in the placebo group.

Sourced from: http://www.bjui.org/

New rights for million of carers

The first of October 2010 will be marked as a historical day for UK carers. Thanks to Equality Act 2010, millions of unpaid carers gained new rights; they cannot be directly discriminated against or harassed because they are caring for disabled people.

The Equality Bill introduces four important new opportunities for carers:

• Socio-economic disadvantage
Clause 1 requires public authorities to have due regard to socio- economic disadvantage when exercising strategic planning functions.

• Associative discrimination
The Bill recognises the concept of ‘associative’ discrimination in relation to disabled
people – and widens the impact of the Coleman decision (clause 13 of the Bill) to make unlawful such discrimination, not only in relation to a person’s employment, but also in relation to goods, services, housing and other fields.

• Indirect discrimination
The Bill contains an explicit provision relating to indirect discrimination and disabled
People (clause 19) – which is not found in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Indirect discrimination occurs where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice puts, or would put, people with a protected characteristic (i.e. due to disability or sex or race etc) at a particular disadvantage compared with other people, unless that provision, criterion or practice can be objectively justified as being a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. A problem with this formulation is that there is a need to establish a comparator – i.e. a person who has not got the protected characteristic, and would not be adversely affected. An example is a height restriction for people wanting to enter the police force. This was neutral (i.e. it affected men and women alike) but because women are generally shorter than men, this provision adversely affected more of them than men.

• Impact assessments
The Bill (clause 145) extends the current duty on public bodies – such as local authorities and the NHS – to ensure that their policies and practices do not have an adverse impact on disabled (and other) persons. This duty is not merely negative: it includes an obligation to ensure that policies and practices are designed to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations. This includes an obligation to consider the impact of their policies and practices because of the concept of ‘associative’ discrimination.

The text above was extracted from a briefing of the Equality Act 2010 provided by Carers UK and you can download it here.

Continence Care products direct to your door

With the increasingly busy world in which we live, finding time to care for those we love and help manage their continence issues can be increasingly difficult. That’s were Allanda can help. We can delivery products for Continence Care direct to your door, or even easier, continence care products direct to your loved ones, or those you care for. With a large choice of incontinence products and care products and a choice of next day or standard delivery we have everything you need to help those you care for enjoy a better quality of life plus lots of incontinence help and advise as well.

World Continence Week

Allanda, a leading provider of incontinence products, is celebrating World Continence Week.

World Continence Week (June 21-27), is a creation of the International Continence Society, and is designed to build awareness of incontinence issues and treatments. It’s estimated that more than 33 million individuals are affected by incontinence in the United States and about 6 million people in the United Kingdom.
Incontinence is not something people should be ashamed of or silent about and World Continence Week is all about giving individuals the tools they need to understand and manage their incontinence issues.
“Unfortunately, many incontinence sufferers are unaware of the treatment options and products available to them,” said Diane Newman of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Continence and Pelvic Health.

Allanda fully support this aim and hope that it help increase significantly both awareness of the prevalence of the condition and also helps people experiencing the condition better understand the many treatments and incontinence management products available to them.

Tips on Purchasing Incontinence Products

With so many different products available nowadays that will manage incontinence it can prove difficult in determining exactly which ones to use. So in order for you to determine which sort of incontinence product you should be using we offer some guidelines below that you may find very helpful.

The things which you must be looking for when it comes to making purchase of such products are as follows:

1. What form of incontinence do you experience? E.g. Stress, urge and faecal incontinence all have different needs (e.g. high absorbency to cope with large amounts of liquid in a single episode for urge incontinence).

2. How easy are they to use? E.g. Can you put them on easily or will you need help? Products such as Belted All in One products are simpler for normal toileting than traditional All in One pads

3. Will they fit in comfortably with the kind of lifestyle that you like to lead? E.g. can they be removed easily? Pull up underwear is far easier for most mobile people.

4. How much comfort do they provide you with? E.g. a smaller incontinence product is more comfortable to be worn, even if it means slightly more frequent changing.

5. How durable are they? E.g. Would washable incontinence products suffice or do you need the extra absorbency of disposable incontinence products.

6. How much liquid can they retain before they need replacing?

Once you know the solutions to these questions then you can select the products that you feel are most likely to fit your needs well. Also of course you need to take into account your gender as the design of the product may differ for men and women.

So now you are going to buy some incontinence products but are still unsure exactly what to purchase? Here we offer a number of tips that you may find very helpful indeed.

Tip 1 – Don’t rush into purchasing the first product you come across it is worth spending some time doing some research into what is available. This doesn’t mean you have to spend hours going from one store to another instead why not look to see what is available by going online. There are various websites such as http://www.allaboutincontinence.co.uk/ that are experts in supplying such items and will provide you clear and concise specifics of how each product works.

Tip 2 – As you do carry out your research don’t limit yourself to one particular brand such as Tena. In this way you can get a better idea about how much the item you are considering purchase will cost. As you will soon discover the prices can vary quite a bit from one brand to another and you could end up saving yourself quite a tidy sum on your purchase by spending those few extra minutes doing some comparison shopping, or feel that the extra spent on a quality brand is worthwhile.

Tip 3 – It is important to know that the designers of incontinence products such as Tena and Lille don’t tend to use the same sizing systems. Plus the way that these products are made means that the way that they fit will differ quite a bit. So make sure that you check the size charts for the various products carefully to ensure that you get the right size that will fit well but also comfortably.

It is also a good idea to try several different products out before you make your final purchase for example by purchasing a incontinence sample pack.

Hopefully the tips we have offered above when it comes to purchasing incontinence products will ensure that you manage this kind of problem more effectively. So of course allowing you to lead the kind of lifestyle you want.

A New Solutions for Urge Incontinence

For those who find themselves unable to manage their bladder, technology is now being used in the U.S. to help people to help people take control of the problem and thus reduce incidences of incontinence.

One person who has benefited is Yvonne De Los Santos, who had gone about her daily life for years without knowing she had a problem.

“I just thought, oh, I had an accident. I didn’t think to seek help,” Yvonne says.

Yvonne’s gynecologist eventually referred her to physical therapist Marlene Kuntz.

“Some women believe that this is normal. It is not normal to leak at any age,” Marlene says.

Marlene is using a bio-feedback method to help Yvonne strengthen her pelvic floor and to manage her incontinence.

“We have the woman connected via a sensor to a specialized computer and the computer is able to show them what their muscle is doing,” Marlene says.

The computer helps Yvonne know which muscles to contract. Marlene uses a series of computer graphics to help Yvonne visualize and pinpoint the muscles that control urine flow.

While this may not be the answer for everyone, it’s an option to be considered before medication or surgery.

Marlene says, “I think it gives women freedom, you know, to be able to do what they enjoy doing and don’t have to worry about getting to a bathroom.”

The therapy runs about 8 weeks and some patients have seen positive results as early as the 4th week

Diet low in saturated fat reduces Incontinence episodes

There are many studies that show the correlation between incontinence and obesity as well as studies that proved that certain foods can help or worsen incontinence episodes. But up until recently no one had studied the effects of saturated fat on incontinence.

A recent study conducted by the Department of Epidemiology at the New England Research Institute and published by the American Journal of Epidemiology examined intakes of total energy, carbohydrate, protein, and fats in relation to UI in a cross-sectional sample of 2,060 women in the population-based Boston Area Community Health Survey (2002–2005).

Research concluded that incontinence in women is improved by weight loss and dietary modification such as reducing the amount of saturated fats in the diet. For detailed information we copied the study’s abstract for you to read it:

Weight loss involving diet modification improves urinary incontinence (UI) in women, but little is known about dietary correlates of UI. The authors examined intakes of total energy, carbohydrate, protein, and fats in relation to UI in a cross-sectional sample of 2,060 women in the population-based Boston Area Community Health Survey (2002–2005). Data were collected from in-person home interviews and food frequency questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the presence of moderate-to-severe UI; a severity index was analyzed in secondary analysis of 597 women with urine leakage. Greater total energy intake was associated with UI (Ptrend = 0.0001; highest quintile vs. lowest: adjusted odds ratio = 2.86, 95% confidence interval: 1.56, 5.23) and increased severity. No associations were observed with intake of carbohydrates, protein, or total fat. However, the ratio of saturated fat intake to polyunsaturated fat intake was positively associated with UI (highest quintile vs. lowest: adjusted odds ratio = 2.48, 95% confidence interval: 1.22, 5.06) and was strongly associated with severity (Ptrend < 0.0001). Results suggest that dietary changes, particularly decreasing saturated fat relative to polyunsaturated fat and decreasing total calories, could independently account for some of the benefits of weight loss in women with UI.

Incontinence caused by Childbirth

Childbirth is the most wonderful experience a woman can have in her entire life but for a small minority this experience can leave lasting injuries that will degrade their lifestyle.

One of these injuries is called obstetric fistula – a fissure, or hole, between her rectal and vaginal passages that can damage nerves cutting brain communication with the bladder leading to a severe case or urinary incontinence.

Such problem is not very common here in the UK but a recent article on The Guardian caught our attention and we decided to share it with our readers.

The article “Torn Apart by Childbirth” tells the story of Mel who had a problematic delivery that caused her change ever since. Sex is difficult and painful; she rarely goes out socially, and she has only been able to return to work in the last two months.

Despite Mel’s case being a rare one, birth injuries that lead to long term or permanent damage are more common that many people think. One study found that between 25 and 40% of patients will have a birth injury of some kind if you actually look for it. It’s much more widespread than anyone believes.

Many women suffer in silence and here is where the problem needs to be tackled. We’ve heard from women in their 50’s that gave birth in their 30’s and have lived with faecal incontinence all this time and done nothing because they thought they were freaks.

Maureen Treadwell at the Birth Trauma Association agrees: each week, she says, her organisation hears from women who haven’t known where to turn for advice before. “It’s a totally hidden problem, and it affects women’s lives in devastating ways,” she says. “Many of the women who contact us have rectal as well as urinary incontinence, and they can’t have sex . . . for some, their relationship totally breaks down as a result of it all. Women tell us it makes them feel dirty; it wrecks their work, their home and their social life. And it’s a total taboo.”

Every day we hear from people that are ashamed of their condition and don’t seek help because they simply don’t have the confidence to do so. For years now here at All About Incontinence we have been stressing out the fact that Incontinence is nothing to be ashamed off and it is TREATABLE.

Our aim here is to help you feel more confident through giving you the best incontinence products for reliable protection and the right information to help you understand and manage your condition.

Do not hesitate to contact us or ask our nurse specialist Shona with your doubts. All emails and calls are dealt with total discretion.

Facts and Figures about Stress Urinary Incontinence

Stress urinary incontinence is by far the most common type of incontinence there is. In our previous article “NHS approves new pelvic muscles’ toner”, we talked about a revolutionary new treatment to this condition and now we decide to bring you some facts and figures about the stress urinary incontinence.

1.    Stress incontinence occurs as a result of reduced support for the bladder.
2.    It affects both men and women.
3.    It is the most common form of incontinence for both genders
4.    In men, stress incontinence is common following a prostatectomy.
5.    In women, physical changes resulting from pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause often contribute to stress incontinence.
6.    IT IS TREATABLE
7.    Pelvic floor exercises are the most effective treatment.
8.    Obesity can increase stress urinary incontinence episodes in patients already experiencing the symptoms.
9.    One in ten women in the workplace experience it, as do a third of all new mothers.
10.    It accounts for 65 % of female urinary incontinence.
11.    It is estimated that 4 million women in the UK are affect by stress incontinence.
12.    Surgery is only suggested after other treatments have not shown any positive results.

Got any more questions about stress urinary incontinence? Don’t hesitate to contact us or our nurse specialist Shona.