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Say Goodbye to Summer....
Fall Is a Good Time to Start Over at SeekWellness
Overactive bladder (OAB) is a bothersome medical condition
that affects more than 17 million men and  women
of all ages, although its incidence increases significantly
with age. In the past, many experts believed that such voiding
dysfunction symptoms as urgency and frequency were harmless
and did not cause significant problems for individuals. New
research shows that the triad of symptoms - urinary frequency,
urgency and urge incontinence, alone or in combination - can
have a significant impact on someone's quality of life. Did
you know there were "natural" ways to control the
symptoms of overactive bladder? Fall is a good time to start
taking control of OAB by learning these new behaviors from
our resident incontinence expert, Diane
Newman.
Many people find that specific diet, lifestyle
changes and exercises may help reduce bladder problems of
all kinds, including OAB.
Pelvic floor muscle exercises
Bladder control depends on muscles working together when the
bladder is filling: the bladder muscle should be relaxed and
the muscles around the urethra (the tube that urine passes
through) called the pelvic floor muscle should be tight. Exercises
that strengthen the pelvic floor muscles can help hold urine
inside the bladder, preventing leakage. These are commonly
called “Kegel” or pelvic floor muscle exercises,
named after the doctor who developed them. To perform a pelvic
floor muscle exercise, imagine that you are trying to control
the passing of gas or pinching off a stool. Or imagine you
are in an elevator full of people and you feel the urge to
pass gas. What do you do? You tighten or pull in the ring
of muscle around your rectum - your pelvic floor muscle. Women
will feel a lifting sensation in the area around the vagina
or pulling in of the rectum. Men may see their penis lift
or a pulling in of the rectum. One exercise consist of both
“tightening and relaxing” the muscle. Start by tightening
the muscle for 5 seconds and build till you can hold the tightening
or 10 seconds. Be sure to relax completely between each muscle
tightening.
SeekWellness offers two products that help with Kegel exercises:
Bladder retraining
Bladder control can be improved by scheduling bathroom trips.
The schedule is changed over a period of weeks or months to
gradually increase the time between trips. For example, a
person who normally goes to the bathroom every hour could
plan to go every hour and 15 minutes. After maintaining the
new schedule for a few days, the time could be increased to
every hour and 30 minutes. The goal is to void no more than
every 3 to 4 hours. If you get the urge to void and it is
not yet your scheduled voiding time; stop all activity and
sit down if possible. Then try one of these techniques to
help you lessen the urge, which will cause the bladder to
relax, and give you more time to get to the bathroom:
- Take some slow, deep breaths through your mouth, concentrating
on your breathing; or concentrate on an activity, such as
taking a vacation, visiting a friend, counting backwards
from 100, or reciting the words of a favorite song or nursery
rhyme.
- Tighten your pelvic floor muscle quickly several times
in a row.
Monitor your diet and medications
Certain food and beverages can irritate the bladder and make
symptoms worse. These include alcoholic beverages, caffeinated
foods and/or carbonated beverages, (soft drinks, coffee or
tea, chocolate), tomato-based products, citrus fruits and
juices, spicy foods, and artificial sweeteners (e.g. Equal).
Also some over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs
can worsen bladder problems such as Excedrin, Midol, Anacin,
Dristan and Sinarest. Do not stop taking prescription drugs
without talking to your healthcare provider first.
Maintain bowel regularity
Keeping healthy bowel habits may lessen bladder symptoms.
Some suggestions include:
- Increase fiber-rich foods in your diet such as beans,
pasta, oatmeal, bran cereal, whole wheat bread, fresh fruits
and vegetables;
- Eexercise to maintain regular bowel movements;
- Drink plenty of nonirritating fluids (water);
- See your doctor if you have bowel problems.
Maintain a healthy weight
Being overweight can put pressure on your bladder, which may
cause leakage of urine when you laugh or cough. If you are
overweight, weight loss can reduce pressure on your bladder.
See our Weight
Control Center for more information.
Stop smoking
Cigarette smoking is irritating to the bladder muscle. It
can also lead to coughing spasms which can cause urinary leakage.
Diane Newman provides an Ask
a Nurse feature on SeekWellness.com. Just click on the
link and follow the directions to ask her your incontinence
and OAB-related questions.
A solution for light male incontinence (OAB):
 The
breakthrough ActiCuf™
is a disposable, undetectable pouch designed to help men manage
light to moderate urinary incontinence (as experienced with
OAB.) When placed on the penis, the padded closure gently
presses down on the urethra to control urinary flow. Any leakage
is immediately asborbed by the ActiCuf™
so you can take charge of your day. The ActiCuf™
disposable pouch is so discreet that it's virtually undetectable
under clothing. It's sleek portable design makes using public
urinals a worry-free experience. Removing it and replacing
it is fast and easy. Take a look and see if it might work
for you.
Incontinence Underwear Buying Guide
SeekWellness carries four brands of incontinence underwear
in washable and disposable styles. We even
carry high fashion underwear - who
says that incontinence underwear has to look like it? With
this many choices, you can get pretty confused so we've developed
an Underwear Buying Guide
to help you narrow your choices and find the type that's best
for you. You might want to try a couple of types to see which
is most comfortable and provides the best protection for you.
Don't forget to use your bonus dollars! And
remember that you earn more bonus dollars on every order you
place.
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Overactive bladder has always
been overlooked and underdiagnosed but if you suffer from
this problem, you know what it's like to spend your days thinking
about where you'll find the next bathroom. Diane Newman has
developed some good information about things
