What is urine incontinence?
Urine incontinence is the involuntary leak of urine from your bladder. it's very common and can affect women of all ages. Urine incontinence is not necessarily linked to a prolapsed of the bladder or the uterus. Prolapse and incontinence are two different conditions, and their treatment is not the same.
The most common types of urine incontinence are:
- Stress incontinence: the leak of urine during pressure on the bladder such as when you sneeze, cough, laugh, or run. It occurs if the muscles that control the closure of your bladder mouth are weak.
- Urge incontinence: the leak of urine after you have a strong sudden need to urinate and before you reach the toilet. it occurs if the bladder has uncontrolled contractions.
- In rare case, urine incontinence can occur due to some neurological diseases.
How are urine incontinence diagnosed?
Your doctor is likely to start with a thorough history and physical exam. You may then be asked to do a simple maneuver that can demonstrate incontinence: close your mouth, pinch your nose shut and exhale hard. After that, your doctor will likely recommend:
- Urinalysis.
- Bladder diary. For several days you record how much you drink, when you urinate, the amount of urine you produce, whether you had an urge to urinate and the number of incontinence episodes.
- Post-void residual measurement. You're asked to urinate (void) into a container that measures urine output. Then your doctor checks the amount of leftover urine in your bladder using a catheter or ultrasound test.
What is the treatment of a urine incontinence?
Treatment of your urine incontinence depends on its type and cause. Your doctor might ask you to do:
bladder training or pelvic muscle exercises.
Double voiding: means urinating, then waiting a few minutes and trying again.
Scheduled toilet trips, to urinate every two to four hours rather than waiting for the need to go.
The doctor might also prescribe some medications. in case you have severe urine stress incontinence, your doctor might give you the option to do a minor(same day) surgery . the surgery can strengthen the closure of the bladder mouth, and thus improve your incontinence.
What can I do?
In mild cases, if you avoid caffeine(coffee, tea, chocolate), nicotine(cigarettes, Hubble bubble), you might improve the symptoms of your urge incontinence.
Avoid frequent washing and douching because these can overwhelm your body's natural defenses against bladder infections.
Does my Insurance Policy Cover urine incontinence?
Yes. according to CCHI unified Policy terms and conditions, health insurance policies in Saudi Arabia cover the treatment and surgery for urine incontinence..
Please Click Here to access the Unified CCHI Policy Wordings.References:
"Urine Incontinence." Disease and Conditions:urinanry Incontinence. N.p., Aug. 2014. Web. Aug. 2016.“Urine Incontinence." Rules. N.p., n.d. Web. Aug. 2016.