10 VITALITY Spring 2025 Managing urinary incontinence If you have urinary incontinence, you may get sudden urges to urinate or leak a bit of urine when you laugh or sneeze. Loss of bladder control happens when certain muscles aren’t working the way they should. While urinary incontinence is more common in women, it can affect both men and women. Types and causes The four most common types of urinary incontinence in women are: Stress incontinence. Anything that puts pressure on the bladder, like coughing and exercise, can cause urine to leak. Urge incontinence. You feel a strong urge to urinate and don’t make it to the bathroom in time. Needing to use the bathroom frequently is sometimes called “overactive bladder.” Mixed incontinence. This is when you experience a combination of stress and urge incontinence. Overflow incontinence. This can happen when your body makes more urine than the bladder can hold or the bladder is full and your bladder muscle may not “squeeze” like it should. Another symptom is constant dribbling. How to get relief People with stress incontinence can try Kegel exercises to help strengthen pelvic floor muscles and ease symptoms. Here’s how to do them: 1Lie down. You don’t always need to do these exercises while reclined, but it can help you learn how to do them. 2Imagine you are trying to stop the flow of urine and intentionally squeeze those muscles. Focus on squeezing the pelvic floor only, not your stomach, legs or buttocks. 3Relax for three seconds. Squeeze the pelvic floor muscles again for a count of three. Start slow and gradually increase each exercise to three sets of 10 per day. It takes four to six weeks of regularly practicing these exercises to get relief from your symptoms. Kegels won’t help if the cause of your symptoms is overly tight pelvic floor muscles. Talk to your health care provider before starting Kegel exercises. You may also consider specialized pelvic floor dysfunction treatment through CMH Outpatient Therapy and Occupational Health Services. Call 417-328-6453. If you have questions about urinary incontinence, Mark Walterskirchen, M.D., at the CMH Urology Surgical Center can help. Call 417-326-2550. Sources: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Office on Women’s Health; Urology Care Foundation
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTI0MzU=