Living With Urinary Incontinence? Don’t Let It Be Your Secret

Incontinence is the involuntary discharge of urine or faeces due to a lack of control by the bladder (Urinary Incontinence) or bowel (Faecal Incontinence). The excretory system of urine is called the urinary tract and comprises: the kidneys, the ureters, the bladder and the urethra. Urine is filtered by the kidneys and transported via two tubes (ureters) into the bladder. Several layers of muscle form the wall of the bladder; the thickest is called the detrusor muscle. At the junction of the bladder and the uretha is the sphincter muscle whose function is to control the flow of urine through the urethra. A healthy bladder is capable of expanding to accommodate 300-500 ml of fluid. At 200ml. we get the first urge to urinate. When this occurs, the detrusor muscle contracts, the sphincter muscle relaxes and urine is forced out through the urethra. Once finished, the process is reversed: the bladder relaxes and the sphincter contracts, stopping the flow of urine.

Your ability to control urination requires: a normal anatomy, a normally functioning nervous system and being able to determine and respond to the warning signs of impending urination. Urinary incontinence occurs when you are unable to control the flow, causing leakage or in severe cases an inability to retain urine.

Complete article...