Causes, prevention and treatment of urinary incontinence after childbirth

Many female friends say that they are prone to urinary incontinence after giving birth. Urinary incontinence means that urination is often uncontrollable. Even strenuous exercise or laughing can cause you to wet your pants. Many female friends are troubled by this embarrassing disease, and the incidence rate increases with age. So what exactly causes this disease? How to treat and prevent it?

Why does urinary incontinence occur?

Urinary incontinence is the loss of urinary control due to bladder sphincter damage or nerve dysfunction, resulting in involuntary loss of urine. Li Ping, director of the Department of Gynecology at Shanghai Jiangdong Hospital, pointed out that everyone has a "valve" in their body that controls urination. When a woman's pelvic ligaments and muscle tissues are damaged or atrophied, the "valve"'s control over the urethra may be weakened, making it easier for urine to be discharged involuntarily. Women are more susceptible to these diseases after giving birth, entering menopause, or gaining weight. Nearly half of middle-aged and elderly women over 60 years old suffer from symptoms of urinary incontinence, and most of them are "stress urinary incontinence". That is, when you encounter a posture that causes a sudden increase in abdominal pressure, such as laughing, sneezing, walking fast, or lifting heavy objects, you will involuntarily "leak urine".

Patients with stress urinary incontinence may suffer from perineal and lower abdominal skin infections due to urine leakage, and may even suffer from ulcers or urinary tract infections, bladder stones, etc. In severe cases, it may affect the function of both kidneys. Many elderly people are too embarrassed to talk about their urinary health problems, and their children lack the initiative to communicate with them, which results in the disease being delayed and the best time for treatment being missed.

How is urinary incontinence treated?

Director Li Ping introduced that stress urinary incontinence can be divided into three degrees based on clinical manifestations: Degree I: Urinary incontinence occurs when coughing, laughing, sneezing, exerting force, or engaging in strenuous activities. Grade II: Urinary incontinence may occur with slight exertion such as standing, walking, holding breath, or when standing up from a sitting position. Grade III: Urinary incontinence is not related to activity and can occur even in a supine position, i.e., urinary incontinence can occur anytime and anywhere.

The treatment of stress urinary incontinence is not complicated, and mainly includes three types: strengthening pelvic floor muscle exercises, drug therapy and surgical treatment. Aunt Wu has been suffering from the disease for more than a year and is a late-stage treatment patient. She can use a minimally invasive method to treat stress urinary incontinence - TOT surgery, also known as transobturator urethral suspension. During the surgery, a biosynthetic sling is inserted into the obturator foramen and the urethra is suspended through the sling.

Women should start preventing urinary incontinence during pregnancy

Urinary incontinence is not an inevitable consequence of childbearing or aging and is preventable in its early stages.

First, women should avoid rapid weight gain and that of the fetus during pregnancy, otherwise it will increase the burden on the pelvic floor tissue.

Second, women should have regular prenatal checkups and try to keep the weight of the fetus within a normal range at all stages of pregnancy. Don't just eat without exercising.

Third, exercising the pelvic floor muscles as soon as possible after delivery can prevent urinary incontinence. The simplest way to exercise the pelvic floor muscles is to do 45 to 100 anal tightening and anal lifting exercises every morning before getting out of bed and every night after lying down. This can not only prevent the occurrence of stress urinary incontinence, but also has a certain therapeutic effect on patients with mild symptoms.

Fourth, during the perimenopausal period, diseases that increase abdominal pressure, such as chronic bronchitis and constipation, should be treated, regular gynecological examinations should be performed, urine should not be held, and attention should be paid to weight loss. The diet should be light and include more fiber-rich foods.

Urinary incontinence is an embarrassing disease, but we remind all patients not to be ashamed to seek treatment because it will only lead to more serious consequences and endanger your physical and mental health. Therefore, you must seek medical attention in time and go to a regular hospital to receive regular treatment. The above content has popularized some relevant knowledge for you. I hope you will benefit from it.