Menopause can bring uncomfortable symptoms such as incontinence in several different forms. Even younger women experience occasional bouts of urinary leakage during pregnancy, after childbirth, and sometimes even during sex. But menopause seems to bring out more occasions of uncontrollable incontinence.
This inability to control your bladder can happen when you put pressure on yourself by wrenching your gut due to laughing or yelling, sneezing, and coughing. The condition worsens if your bladder is full. Incontinence can also feel like a strong, uncontrollable urge to pass urine resulting in continuous leakage. Sometimes the sound of running water can trigger this urge.
Continuous incontinence means there is leakage of urine more or less all of the time without warning. Although this type of incontinence is uncommon, it is caused by abnormalities in the urinary tract which may be congenital, or from surgery such as a hysterectomy or medical treatments such as radiation.
Bouts of incontinence can also be due to menopause, specifically hormonal imbalances. Producing less estrogen can cause the lining of the bladder to weaken, causing irreparable control of bladder movement. The older we get, the harder it is for us to hold back our urine – bladders get weaker, and reaction times become slower.
Depending on the type of incontinence you are experiencing, your doctor may recommend several types of treatment. Antibiotics are sometimes required to treat an infection. Prescribed drugs can be taken to control abnormal bladder contractions or to create contractions in an overly distended bladder.
Balancing your hormones with either HRT or natural, bioidentical replacement therapy can significantly relieve incontinence. And, of course, there are the traditional pelvic floor exercises and Kegels to strengthen the muscles surrounding the urethra and vagina. In more severe cases, surgery or electrical stimulation of the muscles around the bladder may be required. This is definitely an option to be discussed with your doctor.
