Incontinence is a condition that makes urine or poop control difficult. Depending on the severity of the condition, you might need to use the bathroom frequently, which interferes with your normal life. Fear of accidental leaks can make your life unpleasant. But it’s nothing to be ashamed of—incontinence is common, affecting millions of men and women.
Incontinence can result from childbirth, aging, or health conditions, but no matter the cause, don’t let it dictate your life. Fortunately, you can manage the symptoms to regain control of your life.
Let’s examine the top 5 effective strategies for managing incontinence and living life on your terms.
1. Wear Quality Incontinence Products
Absorbent products like adult diapers and panty liners can help manage incontinence. However, each product is designed with an absorbency capacity to manage a certain type of incontinence. You need to understand your incontinence to choose the most suitable incontinence aid. To manage large amounts of urine overnight, go for high-absorptive solutions like premium bed pads for incontinence.
2. Train Your Bladder Regularly
Bladder training is a form of behavior therapy that can effectively manage urinary incontinence by increasing the bladder’s capacity and frequency of use. Ultimately, it reduces leakages and urination urgency.
One effective technique for delaying urination is by managing the urge. Next time you feel the need to pee, try holding it for a few more minutes. Start with 2 minutes and gradually increase the duration as it becomes easier. Keep extending the time until you reach a comfortable duration, like being able to hold it for up to 3 hours.
Any time you feel like urinating before the planned time is up, use relaxation to calm things down. Simply breathe slowly and take deep breaths, focusing on the breath, and the urge fades away.
As you train your bladder, avoid bladder irritants. That includes drinks like alcohol and caffeine that trigger frequent urination. Cut their consumption and replace it with more water to minimize the chances of leakages.
3. Practice Pelvic Floor Exercises
The pelvic floor muscles support the urethra, which controls urine flow. Stress incontinence is mainly caused by weak pelvic floor muscles. As a result, you experience leakage whenever pressure is applied to your bladder from sneezing, coughing, or laughing.
Exercising the pelvic floor muscles through kegel exercises strengthens them and helps manage incontinence. Fortunately, it’s an easy exercise that you can do anywhere, whether at home or in the office, for at least 10 minutes daily.
If you’re doing Kegel exercises alone, the first step is identifying your pelvic muscles. To do this, try stopping your pee midway to identify the muscles in use. Once you know them, practice Kegel in any position comfortable to you, be it lying down on a mat, sitting on a chair, or even standing at the office.
Tighten the pelvic muscles alone while avoiding stomach, thigh, or butt muscles. Hold the squeeze for around 5 secs, then relax them for 5 secs. Repeat this about ten times and do it for 3 sets.
4. Make Lifestyle Adjustments
Making some lifestyle changes can help ease the symptoms of most types of incontinence. Excess weight is one of the leading factors to urinary incontinence as it leads to weak pelvic muscles. So, you must maintain a healthy BMI. If you are overweight, practice weight management techniques like reducing sugar intake, exercising more without lifting weights, and eating nutritious foods.
Another way to manage incontinence is to limit the intake of foods and drinks that increase the amount of urine, mounting pressure on your bladder. That includes reducing the amount of coffee, spicy or acidic foods that irritate the bladder, and diuretic drinks like alcohol.
Switch it up by drinking at least 6 glasses of water daily to prevent bladder capacity from shrinking. Avoiding drinks while trying to minimize leakage could make it worse, as it reduces bladder capacity and can also cause constipation.
5. Plan Bathroom Breaks
Scheduling for bathroom breaks is also a good way of tackling incontinence. In this method, you set a timer for a bathroom visit, and when the time arrives, you have to do it even if there is no urge. You can start with 30 minutes and increase it gradually to a couple of hours.
The idea is to train the brain to know the right time to relieve yourself and avoid delaying it until there is an urgent need to use the bathroom. It also helps the bladder to adjust its capacity, giving you more freedom of movement.
Conclusion
Incontinence can be tough, but don’t let it take over your life. By making a few changes to your lifestyle and a bit of discipline, you can manage it and be happier. Using quality incontinence products and doing Kegel exercises every day can really help.
Training your bladder to adjust, scheduling bathroom breaks, eating healthy, and keeping a healthy weight are all important in managing incontinence. Don’t forget to check in with your doctor regularly to see how you’re doing and adjust your plan as needed.
