| Dealing With Incontinence When You Sneeze or Cough |
Incontinence is a touchy subject. Mister Private knows that unintentionally losing urine when you sneeze or cough (called stress incontinence) is embarrassing. Stress incontinence is typically found in women over the age of 40 who have had several children or in post-menopausal women. It occurs when you put physical stress on your bladder, like when you cough, sneeze, laugh, stand up, lift something heavy or exercise. Stress incontinence can be caused by a bladder infection. But it can also be caused by poor urinary control due to childbirth or prostrate surgery, and sometimes smoking, diabetes, caffeine or alcohol consumption or certain medications.
You will have to see a doctor to determine the exact cause of your stress incontinence. He will check out the area and administer a urinary stress test to observe how much urine you lose when putting stress on your bladder. He might call for urodynamic tests, which look at the function of your bladder.
You may be able to treat stress incontinence with several lifestyle changes. You will have to watch the amount and types of fluids you ingest daily and go to the bathroom on a more regular basis. You may have to quit smoking or shed a few pounds. You should try Kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor (to make these exercises easier to perform and more effective, try vaginal weights like Femtones or the Energie barbell). You can also wear absorbent pads to protect your underwear from any leakage. Some devices, like vaginal weighted cones, bladder neck supports and urethral plugs can control your condition. Surgery to improve the closure of the sphincter or support the bladder neck might be necessary.
Don’t let stress incontinence cause you emotional stress. Conditions like this are natural occurrences and can be treated.
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