Bladder Health and Urinary Incontinence- Part 2

Posted on: December 19th, 2013 by BrevardBlogger No Comments

Brevard Medical Equipment is talking about bladder and incontinence this month. Why? Because as we age, our bladders tend to become much more of an issue than they were when we were younger. We would like to offer some more tips and techniques so you can enjoy better bladder health.

Our bodies age a bit every day. And just like the rest of our muscles and body parts, the bladder is not what it used to be.  Urinary incontinence happens when muscles are too weak like in the case of stress incontinence.  Stress incontinence occurs when the muscles in your bladder are too weak to properly close and stay closed. This type of incontinence happens when we sneeze, have a hardy laugh or lift a heavy object.

On the other end of the urinary incontinence coin is overactive bladder.  Overactive bladder is when your bladder sends an “I’m really full!” message to your brain even when it’s not. You may experience a strong urge to urinate even when there is little urine in the bladder. There are many reasons for overactive bladder including prostate problems in men and nerve or spinal cord damage in either gender.

What are some basic bladder rules to remember?

Don’t smoke and if you do, quit now. Smoking affects more than your lungs. Cigarette smokers have a much higher rate of bladder cancer than non-smokers, up to three times higher!  More than 50,000 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer every year, many of those cases are in smokers.

Get your eight glasses of water a day. Sixty-four ounces or eight 8ounce glasses a day will help to keep your balder flushed and clean. If you aren’t a water drinker, start slow and work your way up. Warning: you will be making many more trips to the bathroom. That’s the point. If you have limited mobility, won’t be near a bathroom or if it’s close to bed time or a commute, you may want to cut that back, but try to always stay fluid.

If you have bladder leakage or incontinence issues, see Brevard Medical Equipment for a variety of liners and adult briefs.

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