More than 13 million people in the United States alone suffer due to losing bladder control at unwanted times. Both men and women, young and old fall in to this category. But it is more common among older people than the young. Loss of bladder control in these people can be short term or long term.
Losing bladder control is termed as ‘urinary incontinence’ in medicine. Bladder is the organ in the human body that stores urine on a temporary basis. Content of the bladder is contained in by a sphincter muscle until such time that it is convenient to release it. Control of this muscle is absent is babies, but is gained gradually as they grow. Contraction of the sphincter muscle of the bladder is controlled by nerves. When these nerves become over active, it results in losing bladder control.
Urinary incontinence is caused by many reasons. Child bearing and menopause are the prime reasons for losing bladder control among women. Stress, surgery, infections, weak or overactive bladder muscles and ageing are few of the other reasons for urinary incontinence. It can also be a symptom of another disease such as Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, stroke, multiple sclerosis or even early stages of bladder cancer.
There are many treatments to avoid losing bladder control. There are special exercises, called Kegel exercises, to achieve control of your bladder. Drugs and surgery are other options to avoid losing bladder control. There are different surgeries for men and women to achieve bladder control. Medicine is also available to either, relax overactive bladder muscles or to tighten the bladder sphincter. A doctor should be consulted before taking any form of drugs to cure urinary incontinence. Losing weight also helps to prevent you from losing bladder control.
If you are unable to exercise daily and if you do not want to consume drugs or go into surgery, the best option is adult diapers. There is a wide range of adult diapers, almost as much as baby diapers, in the market today. It is important to find the right one for you, as different diapers have different cuts and shapes.