Incontinence is often a muted topic of discussion, often left unmentioned and in some cases untreated due to embarrassment or inability to talk about symptoms. Telling friends and family about your incontinence can make it easier to manage your symptoms, help you get the emotional and physical support you need, and even help you to go about finding the right diagnosis.
It is important to remember that you are far from alone in your symptoms, in fact recent studies show that there are over 200 million people worldwide are affected by forms of incontinence, and many of those avoid proper treatment and diagnosis to avoid confronting the issue with friends, family or healthcare professionals. Knowing the facts about incontinence can eliminate the stigma and help you avoid potential detriments to your lifestyle.
If you, or a family member experience any kind of incontinence, it is important for them to be able to communicate comfortably with others, most notably medical professionals and trained carers who can assist them in selecting the best treatment and products for their symptoms. These treatments, thanks to technological advancements are now widely available and successful and, for some, even a cure. No longer do you have to worry about embarrassing odours or leakage and individuals can continue with active lifestyle.
The first step in confronting your incontinence symptoms is to get an assessment by a medical professional, which will help determine the type of incontinence you may be experiencing and the best method of treatment to meet your individual needs. For the best diagnosis incontinencechoice.co.uk always recommends you speak to your local GP or healthcare professional. NHS.uk has a healthcare service finder to help you locate your nearest health centre. The NHS also operate numerous continence clinics, with specialist teams providing support and medical advice for people with bowel or bladder incontinence. These may be useful for people who would rather speak to someone other than their local GP about their symptoms. To find out more about these clinics contact your nearest hospital for details.
There are common types of incontinence, which can be experienced either separately or in a variety of combinations, which we have previously discussed for common types of incontinence in women and common types of incontinence in men. Once the type, or combinations of types of incontinence that you/they are suffering from is determined a road to a successful treatment, cure or effective management of the condition can be laid out. These often include some of the following:
- Diet modification
- Behavioural therapy
- Pelvic floor exercises
- Medication
- Supportive devices
- Surgery
- Disposable incontinence products
- Washable incontinence products
Having effective knowledge of your symptoms and treatments can make it far easier to talk about incontinence, and with the aid of the many groups and charities available its easier than ever to get support and guidance. One of the largest incontinence groups in the UK is the Bladder and Bowel Foundation who offer help and guidance on finding out more about your incontinence, and who to talk to.
If you are interested in learning more about incontinence and the impact on older adults, there are many professional organizations, web sites, support groups and educational materials to assist you in your quest. We are collecting links to these organisations in our incontinence links. If you have a link that would you like to suggest we add to our site, then please do not hesitate to comment below.
