Urinary incontinence, when to seek medical help?

Urinary incontinence, when to seek medical help?

Urinary incontinence is a problem that is significantly more common in women. As we age, its frequency increases. Due to the nature of the complaints, many times this condition goes undiagnosed because women do not seek medical attention. At the root of the occurrence of incontinence there can be various reasons, which determines several types of incontinence. Urinary incontinence is any condition that is associated with the involuntary passing of urine. One of the most common causes of urinary incontinence is increased pressure in the abdominal cavity – stress incontinence. This most often happens during coughing, sneezing, laughing or during physical exertion. 1. Very often stress incontinence can occur after pregnancy and vaginal delivery. Because the pelvic floor muscles are under a lot of pressure, overstretching occurs very often. Another reason for the development of incontinence after childbirth is the performance of an episiotomy in order to support a natural birth. As a result, the innervation of the muscles forming the pelvic floor can be disturbed. 2. With age, the elasticity of tissues decreases due to a decrease in estrogens, which are synthesized in the female body. This is a prerequisite for the development of urinary incontinence. Very often complaints begin in the premenopausal and menopausal period. 3. There is increased pressure in the abdominal cavity in overweight women, in women who often suffer from constipation. Active athletes whose work involves heavy physical labor may also develop stress incontinence. Regardless of the reason why stress incontinence developed, the main reason for not holding urine in the bladder is the increase in pressure in the bladder above that in the urethra – the urinary canal. In the various conditions, there is a weakening of the muscles that make up the pelvic floor or a disruption of the innervation. This is a prerequisite for releasing a small amount of urine when sneezing, coughing or in another condition that is associated with an increase in pressure in the abdominal cavity. NEWS_MORE_BOX Urinary incontinence can go through several stages of development. The difference in the various degrees is determined by the way the complaints occur. While in mild forms the complaints are during sneezing or coughing while the woman is in a standing position, in more severe forms urine leakage may occur in a lying position or with minimal physical effort. Another type of incontinence is in cases of leakage of urine when there is a strong urge to urinate. That is, urinary retention is impaired. Urinary incontinence can develop in the course of inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system, for example, with cystitis – inflammation of the bladder. In order to be able to make a correct diagnosis, it is important to correctly describe the circumstances under which the leakage of urine occurs and the amount. The condition of the woman, the presence of children and the mode of delivery,the presence of operations in the area are important in establishing the diagnosis. The main steps in establishing the diagnosis are the examination of the woman and the conducting of an ultrasound examination. It can be used to determine the presence of urine in the bladder after urination – residual urine. Conducting a urethrocystography allows viewing and assessing the state of the urethra and bladder. In this way, neoplasms that could be the cause of the complaints can be excluded. Microbiological examination of urine is important and has a great diagnostic role to detect an inflammatory process. In the treatment of stress incontinence, conservative treatment is used, the role of which is to improve the muscle tone of the pelvic floor. Medicines are also taken along with it to achieve the required result.

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