November is Bladder Health Month
Updated: Nov 11, 2022
November is Bladder Health Month! Now's the perfect time to figure out what is ailing your bladder, so you can take action to get it back up and running in the background where it belongs, and stop thinking about it so often. We'll discuss different bladder conditions each week. What’s up for this week? Urinary Incontinence.
What is Urinary Incontinence?
Urinary incontinence simply refers to any involuntary loss of urine.
Did you know:
More than 25 million people in the United States experience bladder leakage every day.
The severity of urinary incontinence ranges from the occasional leaking of urine when you cough or sneeze to having an urge or that "gotta go" feeling that's so sudden and strong, you may not make it to the bathroom in time.
Stress incontinence impacts 1 in 3 women under the age of 60 and 1 in 2 of all women age 65 and above. Women are more likely to get stress incontinence than men.
OveractiveBladder (OAB) affects +33 million US adults. OAB isn't a disease - it's the name given to a group of troubling urinary symptoms which we will discuss below.
Research shows that pelvic physical therapy is first-line treatment for all types of urinary incontinence, so if leakage is a problem for you, it's a great place to start!
Keep in mind that not all leakage is created equally—there are different causes of urinary incontinence, as well as differences in the types which typically affect women and men. Let's look at these separately: