Menopause is an inevitable part of life for women's health as they get older. We hear about a lot of the typical symptoms of menopause - mood changes, hot flashes, menstrual changes. However, one side effect that isn’t often addressed is urinary incontinence.
Back pain is already frustrating enough, and when you add incontinence on top of that, your quality of life can be interrupted. See exactly what contributes to lower back pain and incontinence and how to make managing these symptoms easy.
People often think incontinence symptoms are caused by loose pelvic floor muscles. However, this isn’t always the case. In the "Hollywood" media, we often hear that we want tight pelvic floor muscles to prevent things like pelvic organ prolapse and leakage, but "tight" isn’t really the right word.
1 in 20 men experience concerns with urinary incontinence. Even though these concerns are common, you don’t have to live with soggy cheerios and other pelvic floor dysfunction concerns.
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles located in the pelvis that control pelvic functions such as urination, bowel movements, and sexual function. When it comes to pelvic floor exercises, commonly referred to as kegel exercises, the focus is often on women. However, men's health can be greatly impacted by regular pelvic floor strengthening.
The pelvic floor muscles hold all of the pelvic organs safely in place, like a hammock supports the person laying on it. Although most people can agree that the pelvic floor is an important component of women's health, something that is often ignored is how important pelvic floor muscle training can be in men's health.
Did you know that you can blend pelvic floor exercises, or kegels, into other exercises that you may already have in your exercise routine? It’s true! There are many exercises that can incorporate the pelvic floor. Because the pelvic floor muscles are similar to your abdominal muscles, you can even exercise them every day. However, it is important to note that your pelvic floor muscles can get sore, and it may not feel like typical soreness that you are familiar with. Pelvic floor soreness can feel like heaviness or pressure in the lower abdomen and genitals.
Due to the rapid regression of this disease, many children rarely progress above the mental age of three-years-old. Therefore, most children with Sanfilippo are not potty trained and deal with incontinence for their entire life. When they are younger, this may not be a "big deal," however, as our children grow, finding proper places to change an older child's diaper in public can be difficult. We often find ourselves laying down a chux pad, blanket, or towel on a public restroom floor to care for our children. It can also be difficult to simply find diapers that fit an older child.
When our 11 and a half- year-old son, Gabe, was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2, I had no idea what to expect his future to look like. Would he ever talk? Learn to communicate in other ways? Would he ever become independent?
I'll be honest, one of my biggest concerns was potty training. It was a long time before Gabe was out of diapers. Managing his urinary incontinence involved intensive ABA (applied behavioral analysis) therapy and continued into his early school years. I had to provide the school with diapers and wipes for years until he was able to stay dry during the day.
