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If you’re experiencing bladder leakage, you’re not alone. Did you know that more than half of women over the age of 50 experience urine leakage? It’s common among younger women too, especially those who have children and have given birth vaginally.
While urinary incontinence is common, the good news is that it is treatable. Read on to learn more about what you can do to put a stop to those sneaky leaks.
1. Adjust Your Diet
You might be surprised to find that certain foods can contribute to urinary incontinence, including foods that are acidic, such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, and tomato-based foods. Other foods to avoid include:
- Alcohol
- Caffeinated and carbonated drinks
- Chocolate
- Artificial sweeteners
- Corn syrup
- Honey
- Spicy food
2. Drink Plenty of Water
This may seem counterintuitive, as the more you drink, the more you have to go, but if you are not drinking enough water, your bladder’s capacity will decrease, making your incontinence even worse.
Drink the recommended amount of water for your size every day, but try to avoid things like alcohol and caffeine, which are diuretics and will make you have to use the restroom even more.
3. Lose Weight
Bladder leakage has many different causes, and one of them can be weak pelvic floor muscles due to the pressure that fatty tissue puts on your bladder. Losing weight can help reduce this pressure. When your body fat decreases, there will be less fatty tissue putting pressure on your bladder, which can be enough to significantly decrease, or even eliminate, bladder leakage.
4. Kegel Exercises
Kegel exercises help strengthen your pelvic floor muscles which can help you hold the urine in. To do these muscles, you should tighten the muscles that you would use to stop urinating and then hold them for five seconds. Take a five-second break, and then hold them again for five seconds. Try to work up to holding them for 10 seconds at a time and for three sets of 10 repetitions each day.
5. Medication
If the above tricks just aren’t working for you, or you need some additional assistance, there are medications that your doctor can prescribe to deal with urinary incontinence.
There are medications that block the messages in your brain that cause involuntary muscle movement in your urinary tract as well as ones that relax your bladder muscles, allowing it to fill more completely before you have the urge to empty it.
Alpha-blockers can help to strengthen your bladder muscles and topic estrogen can help restore deteriorating tissue in the urinary tract, which can help alleviate incontinence.
Put a Stop to Those Sneaky Leaks Now
Don’t live another day worrying about leaks. Put a stop to those sneaky leaks now with our tips. Start out with changing your diet, exercising more, and doing your Kegels exercises. Kegels require no equipment and you can do them while reading this article.
If you found our tips helpful, check out our other health and lifestyle articles before you go.
