Urinary incontinence in Female

Female incontinence is any involuntary or unwanted loss of urine. It is considered a medical condition if it happens regularly. The risk of developing incontinence increases with age, but younger people may also develop it. Women are more likely to suffer from this condition than men.

Urinary incontinence causes social distress. This is why many people do not discuss the problem with their doctor as they feel embarrassed.
It is important to seek medical advice especially if the incontinence is affecting your quality of life. In most cases, incontinence can be treated or cured with various treatment options. These include pelvic floor exercises, medication treatment, or surgery. Together with your doctor, you can discuss which treatment is best for you. 

Common causes of Females Urinary incontinence

  • • Hormone deficiencies
  • • Weak pelvic floor muscle
  • • Neurological lower urinary tract dysfunction
  • • Urinary tract infections

Common risk factors in female include

  • • Pelvic surgery
  • • Childbirth
  • • Menopause

Urinary incontinence becomes more common with increasing age. However, it should not be seen as a normal part of ageing.

 

Types of urinary incontinence

There are different types of urinary incontinence, depending on how and when you lose urine.

1. Urge urinary incontinence

Urge urinary incontinence happens when you get a sudden need to urinate which you cannot postpone. The bladder muscle contracts and you lose urine without the ability to hold before reaching the toilet.

2. Stress urinary incontinence

Stress urinary incontinence occurs when you lose urine during certain activities that exert pressure on the pelvic floor such as:

  • • Coughing, sneezing, or laughing
  • • Running or jumping
  • • Lifting heavy objects

This happens because during these kinds of activities the pressure on your bladder increases. Your urethra or urinary sphincter cannot resist the pressure of a full bladder and will leak urine.

3. Mixed incontinence

This happens when you have a mixture of stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence.

Treatment

Treatment varies depending on the type of incontinence. This is why it is very important to properly tell which type of incontinence you have in order to find the correct treatment.
Especially in certain cases, a wrong treatment may make your condition worse.

1. Medical Treatment is mostly used for urge urinary incontinence
The main types of medications used to manage incontinence are muscarinic receptor antagonists (MRAs), mirabegron, and estrogen.
In severe cases, intravesical BOTOX injections are being in order to control urge Urinary Incontinence .

2. Sub-urethral sling placement
Sling placement for management of stress urinary incontinence in female has shown to be a very successful procedure if performed by the trained personnel.
It is a same-day procedure of 5 to 10 minutes duration that provides a definitive relief to the patient. It is usually a pain-free procedure that can change your life forever.

For more insights you can visit our page Female Incontinence.