Know About Incontinence And Help Your Seniors At Home

By Author: Harleen Kaur
Total Articles: 66
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Incontinence is common in both men and women at older age. It takes away their confidence and is one of the prime reasons for the issues like social withdrawal in seniors. Old age causes weakening of bladder muscles or pelvic floor. This leads to inadequate emptying of the bladder and induces inability to hold the urine. Thus, the problem of dribbling or dripping of urine in very small quantities arises and strips away the confidence of the seniors.

Types of incontinence and their causes

Incontinence is caused due to weakening of bladder muscles. In addition, there are certain triggers that further weaken the urine holding system in the body. Depending upon the cause, the incontinence is categorized as:

Stress incontinence: The triggers for causing stress incontinence are emotional trauma, mental tension, or exposure to loud noise of reprimanding. With the passage of time, the simple activities like sneezing and coughing or lifting any heavy thing cause stress on themuscles of the bladder leading to leakage. The stress incontinence is indicator of poor bladder control. Doctors do advise exercise for bladder incontinence if it is just the start. For those facing the worse, diapers come as reliable source of relief.

Urge incontinence: It is quite common in older women or those suffering from urinary tract infection. Women feel as if they are holding a large amount of urine and even after the process of urinating, the bladder does not feel completely empty. The stress and urge incontinence occur simultaneously in women. The cause of urge incontinence is the strong response to emotional impetuses like sadness, anger, anxiety, etc. Women tend not to mix up with people generally or are shy of staying long outdoors due to urge incontinence. They can use senior adult diapers, thankfully, to avoid this situation while spending time with family and friends.

Overflow incontinence: The bladder is not empty completely after using the washroom and the remaining urine starts dripping in the underwear in short intervals. The process is called dribbling. It can disturb the sleep during nights due to wet feeling prompting men to wake up for using washroom multiple times. It can also be signified by the flow of urine.

Mostly overgrown prostate gland partially blocking the urethral opening is the cause of overflow incontinence. It can affect kidneys in its worst state. People suffering from this incontinence are quite prone to urinary infections. Overnight diapers for adults can be used to maintain hygiene and also to ensure good sleep.

Functional incontinence: When older people are not able to make it washroom on time due to debilitating physical and mental state, it leads to functional incontinence. They are aware of their need to urinate, though. The ageing related diseases like dementia, poor eyesight or reduced mobility are the causal factors behind functional incontinence.

Ways to control incontinence

Incontinence which is not caused due to medical condition can be controlled to some extent by adopting certain habits like:

Exercising: There are certain exercises for strengthening the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor becomes weak due to pregnancy in women. Simple exercises like Kegel’s exercise can help in keeping the pelvic floor strong and avoid incontinence.

Use of diapers: Hygiene becomes the biggest issue that comes with incontinence. Diapers for old age allow you staying dry even in the case of dribbling and complete emptying of bladder.

Apart from these, there are certain medicines which can actually be used in case of urge incontinence. The medicines help in increasing the capacity of bladder to hold urine.

Incontinence can be stressful and may lead to physical and mental illnesses of various kinds. To know it better is the best way to fight it and to help others.