Adult Incontinence: Causes and How to Ease Distress

As we age, sometimes our bodies don't cooperate in the way they once did. We deal with more aches and things like walking difficulties and adult incontinence.

If you suffer from incontinence, you're not alone! Some form of incontinence is common in about 51% of people aged 65 or older. Suffering from incontinence can keep you home and away from friends, family, and daily activities. Without the right tools and methods to ease your distress, it's easy to give up an active lifestyle.

There's no need to suffer alone or stop doing the things you love if incontinence is part of your life. Keep reading to learn how to find relief and regain your freedom.

What is Incontinence?

One of the first steps to treating the condition is understanding more about adult incontinence is and isn't.

Small children have problems wetting the bed until they grow into potty training, and they develop better bladder control. This isn't incontinence; it's just a part of a child's body learning how to function.

As you age, your bladder and bowel functions can deteriorate. Sometimes trauma to your body can also cause symptoms of incontinence. Muscles grow weaker, or instructions from your brain get mixed up, causing urinary or bowel leaks.

Adult incontinence isn't a disease to diagnose. Most often, if you experience incontinence, it's a symptom of other things going on in your body. While an adult of any age can suffer from incontinence, some common causes of incontinence in adults include:

• Age
• Physical trauma
• Pregnancy and childbirth
• An enlarged prostate or prostate cancer
• Nerve damage from Parkinson's disease or a stroke
• Blockage in your urinary tract

Suffering from an overactive bladder or other symptoms of incontinence are signs that you need to see a doctor. While most people can treat incontinence at home with the right tools and medication, the cause of your incontinence needs an investigation and medical attention.

What are the Types of Incontinence?

Not everyone with incontinence suffers from an overactive or unpredictable bladder. Incontinence can show up in a variety of ways. In most cases, adult incontinence involves urine leakage.

Stress Urinary Incontinence

If you suffer from stress urinary incontinence (SUI), you probably experience small amounts of urine leaking as a result of an activity. Sneezing, jumping, coughing, laughing too hard, or strenuous activity can cause this type of adult incontinence.

More severe cases of SUI happen with less movement. When bending over, standing up, or walking, you might experience leaking a few drops. Or you might find your clothes soaked with more than a few drops of urine.

If you're overweight, were recently pregnant, smoke, or suffered an injury to your low back, these symptoms might sound familiar to you. It's a common problem, but that doesn't make it any easier to feel comfortable about dealing with SUI.

The occasional leak from laughing hard at a good joke doesn't always indicate a problem. Talk with your doctor if urine leaks are a frequent problem for you. Some lifestyle changes and exercises can help reduce the occurrences of SUI. You can also consider using liners or pads to protect your clothing from urine leaks.

If less-invasive treatments don't help, your doctor might recommend surgery to resolve your stress urinary incontinence.

Overflow Incontinence

We've all had moments when we needed to get to a bathroom but couldn't quite get there in time. With overflow incontinence, this is a common occurrence.

You might feel a sudden urge to urinate. By the time you realize how intensely you need to use the bathroom, you don't have enough time to get there, and you can't hold it long enough to make it to the bathroom. If this frequently happens for yourself or a loved one, consult a doctor.

You might also consider using adult diapers to catch leaks that happen before you're able to get to the bathroom. Adult diapers can hide discretely beneath clothing and save the embarrassment of a leak that occurs when you least expect it.

Bowel Incontinence

While this type of adult incontinence is less common for most adults suffering from incontinence, it does happen. It can be a challenging situation to deal with when spending time with friends, family, or at work with coworkers.

Instead of urine, bowel incontinence happens when your body is unable to control a bowel movement. This can happen when people have an illness that weakens the body. It can also develop as a result of trauma to the lower body, nerve disorders, and aging muscles.

Rather than risk the embarrassments of repeat bowel leak episodes, seek treatment and protective measures sooner rather than later. With adult underwear or briefs, you can keep a bowel leak from soaking through your clothing. Keeping wipes and washcloths handy no matter where you are can make it easier to clean up after a leak.

Don't Suffer from Adult Incontinence Without Help

You don't need to retreat from your life, friends, or family if you suffer from adult incontinence. It can be a socially awkward condition to suffer through. But with the right care from your doctor and the right supplies, you can go through your day with little interruption.

There's no need to feel embarrassed when you shop for incontinence supplies. MedOnTheGo.com makes it easy to find the quality products you need to manage the symptoms of your adult incontinence. Be sure you consult with your doctor to make sure your symptoms don't indicate more severe health issues.

After you've talked with your doctor to form a management plan, shop here for your incontinence treatment supplies. Our online store makes it convenient to shop from your home. Products deliver directly and discretely to your door. There's no need to worry about how to manage symptoms of incontinence when you shop with us!