Unwanted urine leakage is a common problem. Urine is lost at unplanned moments, which can lead to unpleasant situations. This can greatly affect daily life, but luckily there are solutions.
Unwanted urine leakage: what is it?
The unwanted loss of urine is also called urinary incontinence and is most common in people of old age. It is twice as common in women than in men, due to their anatomy. Urinary incontinence can vary from small drops, large shoots or almost the entire bladder contents of urine and often has a major impact on daily activities. There are three types of urinary incontinence:
- Exercise or stress incontinence† You lose urine by coughing, laughing, jumping or shaking.
- urge incontinence† Here you suddenly feel an urge to urinate, but the toilet is not reached in time.
- Mixed Incontinence† This includes both of the above forms of incontinence.
Causes of urinary incontinence
There are several causes for unwanted urine loss. Among other things, the aging process of the body can be a cause, for example the menopause, dried out mucous membranes or weakened pelvic floor muscles.
However, urinary incontinence does not only occur in older people, so there are other causes as well. For example, it can also be a result of being overweight or of various conditions such as diabetes, bladder stones or constipation.
In addition, there are a number of medications that can have urine leakage as a side effect, including tranquilizers, pain relievers, antidepressants, and diuretics.
There may also be a temporary loss of urine. This is especially common in younger people, for example during pregnancy, after childbirth or due to a bladder infection. Finally, brain damage can also be the cause of unwanted urine loss.
Unwanted urine loss in women
Urinary leakage is a common problem in women. As many as one in four women suffer from this. Incontinence usually starts after menopause, but it can also occur in younger women. The reason that urinary incontinence is more common in women is that their pelvic muscles are less strong. In addition, during a woman’s life, she has also had to endure a lot, such as childbirth, pregnancies and the fluctuation of hormones. After menopause, the elasticity of the pelvic floor decreases and problems with urination can develop.
Unwanted urine loss in men
Urinary incontinence in men is always related to the prostate. In men, too, this problem usually starts late in life, often after surgery near the prostate. The prostate continues to grow throughout a man’s life, which can cause urination problems later in life. Urinary incontinence is often thought of as a female-only condition, but it can also have a major impact on men’s daily lives.
What can you do about it?
There are a number of things one can do to make sure that the unwanted urine loss is reduced or that it has less of an impact on one’s life. First, it is important to talk about the problem, either with the environment or with a doctor. This will reduce the feeling of embarrassment, because involuntary leakage of urine is quite normal.
If you suffer from small amounts of urine loss, a product such as Tena Lady or Tena for Men can be a good solution. This is an incontinence pad that is placed in the underwear to collect the urine.
Another option is exercises that can be agreed upon in consultation with a doctor or physiotherapist. A special form of this is pelvic physiotherapy, in which the muscles in the pelvis are trained. If all this does not work, there are also medication and surgery that help against unwanted urine loss.