You Don’t Have to Live with Urinary Incontinence

You might think that leaking a little urine when you laugh is the price you have to pay for having a few kids and getting older. But the good news is — you’re wrong. You don’t have to live with urinary incontinence because treatment options are available.

If you have problems like leaking urine, needing to know where the bathroom is at all times, or sometimes feeling like you won’t be able to make it to the bathroom in time, you might have urinary incontinence. Here, the team at Darin L. Weyhrich, MD, explains more about urinary incontinence.

What is urinary incontinence?

There are three main types of urinary incontinence.

Stress incontinence

When you put stress on your bladder, you might leak a little urine. This stress might come from coughing, laughing, or sneezing. Exercising or lifting something heavy may also cause you to leak urine. This is the most common type of urinary incontinence, which may lead you to believe that it’s normal. It isn’t, and you shouldn’t have to live with it.

Urge incontinence

If you need to know where the bathroom is wherever you go, it can be a sign of urge incontinence. The most common symptom of this condition is that you have a sudden urge to get to the bathroom — and sometimes you don’t make it without leaking urine. 

Overflow incontinence

If you’re constantly dribbling urine or you feel like you can’t completely empty your bladder, this is often a sign of overflow incontinence. 

At best, all of the forms of urinary incontinence are likely to present a major inconvenience. In the worst cases, you can even feel like your bladder rules your life. This doesn’t have to be the case anymore.

What you can do about urinary incontinence

When you make an appointment at Darin L. Weyhrich, MD, the first thing we do is analyze your habits. 

This analysis includes looking at your dietary habits. For example, if you drink a lot of caffeinated beverages, this may worsen your bladder control. Caffeine increases the urge to urinate, as does alcohol. Other foods that may worsen your symptoms include:

• Carbonated beverages (including sparkling water)
• Artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame and stevia
• Chili peppers and other spicy foods
• Chocolate
• Citrus fruits

You may want to try to lose weight as well. You don’t have to lose much; only a 10% weight loss can significantly improve your bladder control.

Managing your fluid intake can also help. If you notice more symptoms at night, stop drinking liquids several hours before you go to bed. Also, spread out your fluid intake to moderate levels throughout the day.

Advanced help for urinary incontinence

The primary way that we treat urinary incontinence is with physical therapy. You can learn to control the muscles that surround your bladder, and we can teach you how.

If your condition doesn’t respond to physical therapy or medications, you may be a candidate for a surgical procedure called a bladder sling. In this procedure, Dr Weyhrich inserts a bladder sling to act as a hammock between your bladder and your urethra.

If you have urinary incontinence, it’s not normal, but you don’t have to live with it anymore. Contact the staff of Darin L. Weyhrich, MD, today or request an appointment online.