Combating Incontinence in Old Age

As you grow old, incontinence will be your constant worry.

It is the involuntary lack of control of the voiding of urine.

As one grows old, the urinary muscle is weaker than the pelvic muscle and urine flows out much to our embarrassment, especially when you are out on a social function. You are also ashamed of the stigma when you leave wet marks on your pants, dress and even on the car seat.

A friend of mine called me yesterday and spoke of this issue. Diagnosed with over-active bladder syndrome, he has to frequent the bathroom often; more so on rainy days and when in air-conditioned rooms.

He spoke abashedly of the 'accident' he had yesterday. When coming out of his car, with a two handfuls of heavy shopping stuff, he could not get to his bathroom and so had the unpleasant experience of wetting his underpants,pants,socks and also a constant dribble of urine right up to his toilet.

He believed that the weight of the things he carried triggered the event.

There are actually 5 main types of incontinence one may be faced with.

The first type is the stress incontinence-also known as effort incontinence, due essentially to insufficient strength of the pelvic floor muscles.

The second type is urge incontinence-the involuntary loss of urine occurring for no apparent reason while suddenly feeling the need or urge to urinate.

The third type is overflow incontinence. Sometimes people find that they cannot stop their bladders from constantly dribbling or continuing to dribble for some time after they have passed urine. It is as if their bladders were constantly overflowing, hence the general name of overflow incontinence.

The fourth category is called the mixed incontinence and it is most common among the elderly female population complicated sometimes with urinary retention.

The next type is structural incontinence. Confined to women, this is again rare. A case in point are fistulas caused by obstetric and gynecologic trauma or injury leading to incontinence.

Finally, we have functional incontinence. This occurs when a person recognizes the need to urinate but cannot make it to the bathroom. The urine loss may be large. Causes of functional incontinence include confusion, dementia, poor eyesight, poor mobility, poor dexterity, unwillingness to toilet because of depression, anxiety or anger, drunkenness, or being in a situation in which it is impossible to reach a toilet.People with functional incontinence may have problems thinking, moving, or communicating that prevent them from reaching a toilet.Interestingly, disease or biology is not necessarily the cause of functional incontinence.

Well,the only hope now, to prevent anxiety attacks and subsequent embarrassment is to quietly wear an adult pampers. May be uncomfortable initially but it certainly beats going to the toilet all the time!