URINARY INCONTINENCE

Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is a condition of involuntary urination, which is a social or hygienic problem and can be shown objectively. By disrupting the quality of life, it restricts the social life of the person and causes psychological problems. It is more common in women than in men. Most patients suffering from urinary incontinence do not seek treatment because they are uncomfortable talking about this condition or do not know to which department they should apply.

What are the Risk Factors in Urinary Incontinence?

• Age (being in menopause)
• Gender (being woman)
• Smoking
• Obesity
• Constipation
• Excessive caffeine uptake (coffee, etc.)
• Pregnancy
• High number of births

What are the Types of Urinary Incontinence?

• Stress Type Urinary Incontinence: It is the involuntary urination that occurs when coughing, sneezing, laughing, suddenly standing up, doing sports or lifting heavy items.
  During these activities, the pressure inside the bladder increases. Your urinary retention muscles (pelvic floor muscles) cannot resist increased bladder pressure and incontinence occurs.
• Urge Type Urinary Incontinence: It is the urinary incontinence as a result of the sudden and quite severe urge to urinate and not being able to reach the toilet. Although the pelvic floor muscles are not weak, urinary incontinence is experienced due to the excessive activeness of the bladder muscles.
• Mixed Type Unrinary Incontinence: It is the situation where stress type and urge type urinary incontinence is experienced together. 

Evaluation and Diagnosis of Urinary Incontinence

In order to understand the type of urinary incontinence and what it depends on, it is necessary to question the patient's medical history and lifestyle, reveal the risk factors and perform a gynecological examination. In addition, the patient is asked to fill out a questionnaire and keep an urination diary. Thus, how much the urinary incontinence affects the patient's life is tried to be determined. In the urination diary, it is recorded how much fluid the patient took during the day, how often he/she went to the toilet and how much he/she urinated. This diary will help in determining whether any improvement in regards to the complaints have taken place during the treatment process.

Treatment of Urinary Incontinence

Lifestyle changes, bladder training, diet, strengthening the pelvic floor muscles with exercise are the main components of urinary incontinence treatment.
On the other hand, strengthening the pelvic floor muscles with the EMG-biofeedback device increases the success of urinary incontinence treatment.   In this way, the patient learns to identify and selectively use the pelvic floor muscles. The treatment is planned as 6-8 weeks, with 3 sessions per week. The patient's compliance to treatment, high motivation, and regular treatment are essential for the success of the treatment.

Urinary incontinence treatment improves patients' quality of life and ensures their participation in life. Urinary incontinence is not the fate of the patient.