Incontinence

There are four types of bladder incontinence, you will be able to work out (if you do not already know) which applies to you from the brief description below :

Stress :

Is that little leak that happens when you cough laugh, sneeze or partake in any motion that stresses or puts too much pressure on the bladder. Stress incontinence can result from pregnancy and childbirth, when pelvic muscles and tissues can get stretched and damaged. It can also occur from high-impact sports, as a result of aging, or from being overweight.

Urge :

Or “over-active bladder” is a bit different – it’s the urgent need to go, followed by an involuntary loss of urine — with anything from a few seconds to a minute’s warning. It is thought to be due to spasms of the bladder muscles.

Mixed  :

Means you have more than one type of incontinence, with stress and urge incontinence being the typical mix.

Overflow :

If you can’t empty your bladder every time you go to the bathroom and experience a frequent or constant dribbling of urine, you have overflow incontinence. Certain medication can cause this problem, and people with nerve damage from diabetes can also experience this type of incontinence. It is sometimes due to impaired bladder muscle contractions or bladder obstructions.

Now let’s look at ways to tackle the problem.

Muscle training :

For stress incontinence, learning muscle control can help manage leakage. That means regularly practicing pelvic muscle exercises.You may have already heard about manual exercise where you tuck in and lift as exampled here :

The slow method :

Lift your pelvic floor muscles to a count of ten. Hold the muscles tight for 10 seconds. You may find at first that you can only hold the contraction for one or two seconds, so concentrate on lifting your muscles and holding the contraction for as long as you can. Gradually increase the time until you reach 10 seconds. Relax your muscles and rest for 10 seconds. Repeat the contractions up to 10 times.

The fast method:

Lift your pelvic floor muscles quickly. Hold the contraction for one second. Relax the muscles and rest for one second. Repeat the contractions 10 times.

Bladder training:

By lengthening the time between trips to the bathroom, bladder training can help women with urge incontinence. You start by urinating frequently eg every 30 minutes or so then increasing the time gradually until you’re going every three to four hours.

Once the urge passes, wait five minutes and go to the bathroom even if you don’t feel like you need to. Slowly increase the amount of waiting time.

Vaginal Hrt prescribed for bladder conditions:

This would be prescribed by your GP as a means of getting estrogen to a specific area for the purpose of putting you back to a stage in life where your estrogen levels would have been more ‘stable’ – similar to when you were of a younger age  and when you probably did not have bladder issues.

Bladder Training With Scheduled Toilet Trips:

With this technique the clock dictates your toilet visits, not your bladder. Using this method you take routine, planned bathroom trips, usually every two to four hours.

 

Pelvic Floor Trainers

Alternatively,you can take advantage of the Pelvic Floor Trainers on the market and take the guess work out of ‘am I doing it right?’. Pelvic Floor Trainers come in all different shapes and sizes. Depending on how much you are prepared to spend depends on how advanced the programme choices will be: targeting stress or urge or a combination programme that tackles both. This is down to need and preference, but at least the guess work is taken out for you as the machine is designed to do this while you watch tv or read etc. All you have to do is follow the instructions and stick to the schedule suggested.

If you are suffering from bladder problems and want to move away from having to rely on pads as back up for those little mishaps then the best thing you could do is consider a Pelvic Floor Trainer as you will be more inclined to follow the course after investing your money than trying to remember to do manual exercises daily with a hectic life style etc etc.

Preparation for using a pelvic floor trainer

If you have decided that a Pelvic Floor Trainer is the way to go, then you are probably looking at different models and thinking to yourself ‘how am I going to get that in me?’

Good question, and it can be a little daunting considering the Vagina is a closed tube until we become aroused whereby it naturally widens/dilates in preparation for intercourse, or self dilates for childbirth. If you are not aroused, and it would be unlikely you would be considering you are staring at a Pelvic Floor Trainer, then you will probably benefit from training your vagina in advance to accept the bullet shaped probe that will sit in your vagina and perform the exercises on your behalf.

How can you train your vagina to prepare and accept the bullet shaped probe?

By using the Vagi-Wave  and following the 21 night training programme you effortlessly put a new instruction/command in your subconscious to enable your vagina to accept the Pelvic Floor Trainer when you decide you are ready to use it. By putting a new instruction/command in your subconscious, you are less likely to be faced with your PC Muscles shutting down/going into spasm and  (a) preventing the bullet probe from entering you  and/or (b) you having to wrestle to get it in – which could cause you further anguish particularly when you next attempt to use your Pelvic Floor Trainer. The best way to do that is to prepare and train in advance so your vagina will willingly accept the bullet probe of a Pelvic Floor Trainer so you can begin appreciating the benefits of such a wonderful machine. Oh one other thing, using a Pelvic Floor Trainer has another benefit –  once you have strengthened your pelvic floor by using one, you will more than likely see a big difference in your sex life.