Can’t go to the gym because you can’t stop your bladder from leaking? Have to go to the bathroom every hour or risk bladder leakage? Unable to sit in a movie hall as you need to visit the loo often? Can’t drive long distance due to leaking of bladder? This can be embarrassing, even humiliating. What’s going on? What has happened to me? These are oft repeated questions by harried women who visit the doctor.
Understanding what’s happening is a first step toward controlling the problem and certainly toward feeling better about yourself and your body. Your physician explains what’s happening inside you. As estrogen production slows during and after menopause, you’re vaginal and bladder walls shrink, and become lose elasticity. This can bring on bladder discomfort and loss of control. So when you cough or sneeze you leak. And God it’s so embarrassing.
Does this mean you’re losing your ability to control urine permanently?
No! Estrogen, which helps to keep the bladder and the urethra healthy, reduces in our body during menopause. This lack of estrogen causes the pelvic muscles responsible for bladder control to weaken, resulting in urinary leaking. Your doctor may recommend some of the following lifestyle changes: like limiting your caffeine consumption, no smoking and alcohol.
Kegel exercises strengthen your pelvic muscles. To do Kegel exercises, you squeeze and hold the pelvic muscles and then relax them. If you are unsure how to do Kegel exercises, ask your doctor for further instructions. These exercises not only improve your bladder muscles they also help in reducing the stress on vaginal muscles. This enables to enjoy a better sex life during menopause.
A small degree of bladder control difficulty is common in the early stages of menopause, but a greater degree of difficulty can be indicative of another problem — one that may require drugs or even surgery. If it’s mild, however, chances are it’s connected with your depleted estrogen. Consult your doctor to be sure that there is no other cause. Frequent urination may be a sign of bladder infection or diabetes also. All in all, it’s a good idea just to be sure that what you’re experiencing is just another sign of menopause and not something else.
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