What is urinary incontinence?
What is urinary incontinence?Urinary incontinence (UI) is defined as any involuntary leakage of urine. This may mean that you leak urine occasionally, or that you cannot hold urine at all. The three main types of UI are stress incontinence (occurs during certain activities such as laughing, sneezing or exercising), urge incontinence (you have an urge to urinate but it is sudden, and you experience a loss of urine because you do not have time to get to the bathroom), and overflow incontinence (occurs when your bladder cannot empty, which leads to dribbling). There is also mixed incontinence, which involves more than one of these types.
The common causes of UI include:
- blockage of the urinary tract
- brain or nerve problems
- health issues such as uncontrolled diabetes, enlarged prostate, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, stroke, spina bifida, and spinal cord injury
- depression
- pregnancy
If you suffer from mild urinary incontinence, your doctor will likely provide you with a plan to retrain your bladder and to strengthen your pelvic floor (if not, contact us and we will provide these for you). The bladder retraining involves setting a strict schedule to urinate whether you need to or not, and adhering to this schedule until you urinate every few hours without dribbling. Sometimes absorbency pads or urinary catheters are helpful for those who continue to experience UI, while medications and surgery are used only in more extreme cases.
How can natural medicine help with urinary incontinence?
Your best approach will likely be pelvic floor physiotherapy, as this addresses pelvic health issues expertly and is very effective. Acupuncture and TCM may also help, i.e. with losing weight, decreasing stress, and also with balancing some other internal issues that may be the cause of your incontinence issues. Massage therapy can help if stress is the reason behind your bladder challenges.
Contact us for a FREE consultation on how natural therapy can help you with urinary incontinence.
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