Yes, there is now an entire section at target devoted to adult incontinence. There are adult diapers on hand at the hospital, But did you know that it's never normal to leak urine?
It's common, yes, but it's never normal. Many of my clients experience pee leaks well before meeting me, but don't even think to bring up the issue because they figure it's normal.
No so! Bladder leakage is a symptom of poor core activation. The problem can be stemming from the pelvic floor, abdominal wall, breathing mechanics, or even hip issues.
There are two types of incontinence that affect my clients the most, I will go over both in this blog.
Stress Incontinence
Stress incontinence refers to pee leaks with laughing, coughing, sneezing or jumping. When severe, stress incontinence can occur with simple positional changes or walking.
Stress incontinence is a breakdown of the core system when faced with a stress, which increased pressure in the abdominal cavity. Incontinence occurs when pressure is not well managed in the core system under the stress.
This means that one or more aspects of your core is not able to withstand impact, resulting in pee leaks.
It's important to understand that although the pelvic floor is directly responsible for sphincter control and support of the bladder, people who suffer from stress incontinence do not always have a pelvic floor problem!
It's important to get an assessment from a pelvic floor physical therapist prior to initiating a program to heal your incontinence, so that you know what it is you actually need to fix!
You can have a strong pelvic floor and still suffer from stress incontinence, so make sure to book your session today if you're dealing with this issue.
Urge Incontinence
Urge incontinence occurs when the bladder squeezes with an urge to pee before you're ready to pee, resulting in pee leaks!
This is often associated with frequent, strong urges to pee that send you running to the bathroom, unable to get your pants down before the pee comes out!
Urge incontinence can be the result of pelvic floor weakness or tightness, poor bladder habits, and bowel issues.
In urge incontinence, the bladder is irritated and spasming when we don't want it to. It can be associated with triggers such as running water, opening the garage door, and getting up in the morning.
People often try to resolve urge incontinence by peeing more frequently, thinking they will be able to empty the bladder before and can empty itself.
Sadly, this usually makes this condition worse. Pelvic floor physical therapy is very effective intreating urge incontinence, so make sure you book your appointment today!
Conclusion
Yes, you can suffer from both urge and stress incontinence at the same time! Often, efforts to fix stress incontinence result in developing urge incontinence!
Pelvic floor physical therapy is the best treatment for urinary incontinence. It is very effective and noninvasive, and will likely fix a whole host of other issues that can be going on in tandem with incontinence.
Incontinence is never normal, and should never be treated lightly. Incontinence is usually a sign of underly poor core support issues, which can manifest as other things such as pelvic organ prolapse or back issues over time.
Pelvic floor physical therapy is the best treatment for incontinence, so make sure you book your appointment today!