What is incontinence you ask? Urinary incontinence is a condition where a person releases urine at an undesired time or leaks urine. How many times as a female have you heard, “It is normal to leak after having babies?” or “It is just something that happens as you age?” It has become so common in conversations that females share, with exercise enthusiasts, medical professionals, etc. According to an article published in the Journal of Urology, urinary incontinence affects about 51.1% of women and 13.9% of men.
Types of Urinary Incontinence:
- Stress incontinence
- Urge incontinence
- Mixed incontinence
- Functional incontinence
- Urinary frequency
Stress incontinence is when a person leaks urine with a cough, sneeze, laugh, or physical activity. Urge incontinence is a leak that occurs when a person is feeling the desire to urinate but happens before reaching the bathroom. Mixed incontinence is like it sounds, a mixed condition of both stress incontinence and urge incontinence. Functional incontinence is when leaks occur without the desire to urinate and the bladder may never empty due to a block in flow. Urinary frequency is when a person feels the need to urinate frequently during the day and/or night.
Quality of Life Impact from Urinary Incontinence:
Urinary incontinence is a problem that can affect a person’s quality of life. Urinary leakage is a burden to many people. Consider the things in his/her life that would be avoided. Whether that person has to miss outings that don’t have access to a “good” bathroom, not participate in parties or activities with friends/family due to worrying someone might realize a leak occurred or that frequent bathroom visits were occurring. Further, always looking for the bathroom upon entering your home, office, or store is not convenient for daily life. The time it takes to doff pants/skirt/underwear, urinate, perform hygiene, donn pants/skirt/underwear, and wash hands can take three to five minutes. If you are like some of my patients, urinary frequency comes with trying to avoid incontinence which sometimes means urinating multiple times in an hour in extreme cases. That can be a lot of time used in a day between finding a restroom, utilizing the restroom, and performing appropriate hand hygiene. Additionally, it can also limit traveling for many due to leaks or needing to stop too often which limits vacations and visiting friends and family that do not live near.
Finally, in some people, a decreased desire for intercourse is due to fear of leaking. Quality of life is very important to consider in every person’s well-being.
Financial Impact:
A person’s finances can also be impacted by urinary incontinence. The cost of urinary incontinence can be a burden. Just think, a package of adult diapers can cost ~$15.00 for a small package to ~$50.00 for a large package. A package of sanitary pads can cost ~$5.00 for a small package to ~$30.00 for a large package. If a person is having to change a pad/diaper an average of even just two times a day, that cost can be ~$262.00 – $1,460 per year. Those numbers may not seem to be a lot; however, if you take into consideration the age when women first start having children, which is 26.3 years of age (according to the US Department of Health and Human Services) until the average life span of 78.7 years of age, that adds up. That could mean ~$13,729-$76,504 throughout the lifetime!
Furthermore, the impact of urinary incontinence is not limited to just finance and quality of life. Urinary incontinence can also cause wounds and skin irritation. Psychological stress can also be a burden to anyone dealing with incontinence including depression and isolation.
What’s the Good News About Urinary Incontinence?
The good news is physical therapy can help! Based on the information found in the evaluation, the physical therapist will work with the individual to establish a plan of care to help the individual gain control over the symptoms and dysfunction. However, treatments for each person are specific to his/her individual need. This can include bladder retraining, muscle strengthening, relaxation techniques, tension relief, biofeedback, functional dry needling, and electrical stimulation.
Brewer PT Doctors of Physical Therapy that can help you today are Dr. Ciara Head, PT, Dr. Rebecca Davis, PT, as well as myself. Contact our office today at 318-222-8892 for an evaluation or click BOOK APPOINTMENT to schedule now in Shreveport, LA, or via Telehealth.
In Good Health,
Dr. Samantha Thiemann, PT
Brewer Physical Therapy
