Urinary incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine. The affected, like Diana, has a sudden and urgent need to urinate and is unable to retain urine.
Escapes can occur when you sneeze, laugh, make some effort or exercise. Diana is affected because it poses a hygienic, social and psychological problem, which influences her daily activity and reduces her quality of life.
Sometimes it is a disease in itself, but in many others it is a symptom associated with different diseases. It is estimated that this is a problem suffered to a greater or lesser extent between 10 and 30% of people over 65 years, being more frequent in women than in men.
These are the most frequent causes:
• Incontinence of urgency: the involuntary loss of urine occurs immediately after having had an uncontainable urge to urinate.
• Incontinence of effort: the loss of urine occurs as a result of an abdominal effort, such as that which occurs when coughing, laughing, waking up, sneezing, etc.
• Mixed incontinence: the two previous situations occur simultaneously.
• Incontinence without perception of the desire to urinate: it is frequent in sick and very old people. They do not perceive that they want to urinate and therefore do not control the sphincter. It can be associated with neurological diseases.
It is essential that the person is correctly informed about the existing therapeutic possibilities. First of all, it is necessary to know the preferences of the woman, the type of life she does and her personal circumstances. The improvement of the quality of life of an older woman with urinary incontinence can occur only with a decrease in the severity of the symptoms, since total continence is often impossible, but it is important to be clear that something can always be done, Women play a decisive role in the application of possible solutions and they have to want to take an active part in the process.
At first, a self-training session will be carried out: habits, evacuation routine, more or less short intervals, control of schedules for the ingestion of fluids and medicines, etc. Another series of measures will be prescribed by the professional according to each situation. Basically there are 3 types of treatment for this problem depending on the type of disease:
• The rehabilitation of the pelvic floor muscles, that is, the regular practice of active contraction exercises of the muscles of the pelvic floor.
• The medicines.
• Surgical treatment, which is the treatment of choice for severe stress incontinence or for one that has not responded to conservative treatment
• Urinary incontinence should not be considered as something inevitable and proper to aging. The causes can be very different and it is possible that it is the symptom of an underlying disease, so it is essential to always consult with the doctor.
• Shame is the worst obstacle to finding a remedy for this problem.
• The intake of beverages and diuretic products increase the production of urine, eg, citrus fruits, tomato juice, tea or coffee, chocolate, and soft drinks.
• The bladder should be emptied at least every 4 hours, since during that time it reaches its maximum storage capacity.
• The female population is the most at risk to develop this problem; However, this does not mean that men are exempt from suffering it. Its development can occur due to damage to the bladder or certain conditions of the prostate and, in fact, it is common in stressed patients or those with diabetes problems.
October 15, 2018
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