New Plastic Sling to Give More Support for Incontinent Men
One of the biggest causes of incontinence in men is prostate problems, even though the prostate does not have any function in the male urinary system. So why are the majority of male urinary incontinence cases related to prostate issues?
The prostate is a small gland located just below the bladder and it is in fact part of the male reproductive systems. The problem is that the urethra, the tube which carries urine from the bladder out of our body runs right through it. As men get older, the prostate often becomes enlarged and inflamed, that is when the problems with passing and retaining urine begin.
Abnormalities of the prostate like enlargement or even a tumour often require surgery. The most common surgery to remove parts or the whole prostate gland is called Prostectomy.
Prostectomy is a very complex surgical intervention and many times due to the proximity of the prostate to the sphincter valve, this valve can be damaged resulting in leakages of various degrees.
Up until now the only solution for the problem was to implant a manually activated artificial sling to the scrotum, but many men are reluctant to the thought of having to press a button to urinate.
Now a new sling made out of a special plastic mesh is being implanted in men who lost control of their bladder after a prostate surgery. Over the past 18 months this new device called the AdVance male sling is being tested and results are very promising.
The hammock shaped sling was designed to give support to the damaged sphincter valve. The procedure takes no longer than 45 minutes and is carried out under general anaesthetic and normally patients are discharged one day after surgery.
Official data are yet to be published about this new technique but according to reports from patients and doctors the sling seems to significantly benefit 50 to 70 per cent of men who had it implanted.
More Natural Remedies to Treat Incontinence
On Monday we brought you 5 remedies to treat or improve incontinence naturally. The article was a success amongst our readers, so we decided to dig deeper and bring you more natural ways to help you feel more confident about your condition.
So let’s get straight down to business and see what these natural remedies are.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D also known as the sunshine vitamin, it might not be a top recommendation for men and women here in the UK but not to worry, there are other ways meet your daily requirements of Vitamin D. Fortified Milk, eggs and fish are rich in the vitamin.
Knows to promote calcium intake and good bone health, researches have shown that D vitamins can reduce the risk of pelvic floor disorders, including incontinence.
Biofeedback
Extremely useful to help you understand what muscles should be contracted during Kegel exercises. Electrical sensors are implemented in the pelvic floor area to monitor muscles and allows you to sense what is happening in your body and then make changes to reduce incontinence episodes.
It can be a bit costly and requires a lot of determination from the patient, but worth every penny and time spent with it.
Quit Smoking
If you are not a smoker simply skip this bit. But if you are a smoker and are looking for another reason to quit, there you have it. Nicotine irritates the bladder increasing the occurrence of incontinence episodes.
“Smokers tend to cough more than non-smokers and long-term, chronic coughing has been considered a risk factor for developing stress urinary incontinence and/or pelvic organ prolapse,” said Dr. Zimmern in an interview to the an American newspaper – The Huffington Post.
Acupuncture
Yes the ancient Chinese alternative medicine methods are also good to treat incontinence naturally.
According to some acupuncturist we have talked to, an overactive bladder is the result of imbalances of two or more systems in our body. For instance the kidneys and the liver or even the heart and lungs.
Like always we would like to remind you that our articles are written for informative purposes and only a professional trained in these symptoms can truly diagnose and treat your condition. A GP will often refer you to a specialized Continence Advisor for assessment to ensure you receive the right help and treatment to improve your symptoms.
Senior Citizens and Incontinence
Urinary incontinence is a bladder control problem that affects people of all ages, not just the elderly. One of the great misconceptions about incontinence is that it is a natural and expected part of aging. But that’s not true; just because you’re elderly doesn’t mean you have to accept the loss of bladder control as a normal part of getting older. Effective treatments are available for sufferers of incontinence, no matter what age you are.
Incontinence symptoms vary from occasional minor leakage to the complete accidental loss of control of an evacuation of the bladder. The majority of urinary incontinence issues arise from either weakened or over-active bladder muscles. Stress incontinence results from weak muscles meeting a sudden burst of pressure. A sudden sneeze, a violent cough or even a belly laugh can trigger an unwanted and sudden release of urine.
Another common type of incontinence is “overactive bladder,” or OAB. In OAB the nerves of the bladder send false signals making you feel an urgent need to urinate eve when there is very little liquid present.
Aging and Bladder Problems
Older adults have other reasons for bladder discharge problems. The very elderly are often immobile and not able t heed the call of nature in time. Others suffer from conditions that produce fluid overload.
Congestive heart problems or the use of diuretics can produce too much urine for a weakened bladder to hold. Incontinence can also be caused by cognitive impairment. Senior citizens often suffer from forms of dementia like Alzheimer’s disease which can cause behavioral problems. These situations are less about bladder control and more about more severe medical conditions.
The important thing to realize about bladder problems is that they have many causes and many possible treatments. Too many older adults see bladder control issues as a sign of incompetence and impending death. They try to hide the problem rather than seeking treatment.
Rather than risking a potentially embarrassing discharge in public they withdraw from life. This reclusive life leads to further isolation, feelings of despair and can even develop into depression. Senior safety and well being requires an active social life, so don’t let incontinence stop you from living. Treatments to reduce or even eliminate incontinence are many and varied.
Some treatments may include dietary changes or even altering prescription medications. Most severe cases may require therapy (like bladder control exercises, floor exercises, meal and beverage timing) medications and absorbency products. There are a number of surgical procedures that may be effective but because the risks and costs associated with any surgery, these are usually the last resort.
Prostate problems and nerve damage (from accidents or even the side effects of surgery) can also create incontinence. Realize that millions suffer from incontinence and it is nothing to be ashamed of. You don’t have to self-manage the problem in secrecy. Your doctor may be able to help free you of the problem, but not if you keep it to yourself.
Elder Care Issues
If you are a caregiver to a person who suffers from bladder control problems, talk to your family physician and get your loved one a complete evaluation. Adult diapers are not the only way to manage the problem and they certainly won’t cure it. The solution to your particular problem will take a good deal of investigation and experimentation. Some elder care givers have had great success by changing the physical environment; just adding a commode to the bedroom or giving the patient easy to remove clothing can fix the problem.
Others required a change in medication; still others required a change in home health care worker. Sometimes patients are embarrassed by health care workers of the opposite sex, other times it’s the reverse. Investigate experiment and persevere knowing that a good number of incontinence problems are manageable if not completely preventable.
Caring for Elderly Incontinent Patients
Despite what many people think incontinence is not a problem that comes with age. It is indeed more prominent in elderly people due to certain health factors that we only experience as we get older. Incontinence, Bladder Weakness, Leaking Bladder, what ever you want to call it, it’s nothing to be ashamed off and in many cases it is treatable.
Caring for a loved one can be both an intensely difficult but at the same time rewarding experience. You may learn things about yourself you may never have realised, such as your ability to be patient and your capacity for love and compassion.
With caring comes great responsibilities be it on a professional or personal level. One of the biggest issues carers face when looking after older people is incontinence.
Changing diapers, wet bed sheets etc, is not a pleasant task to do on a daily basis but it has to done in order to provide a better quality of life for those with bladder weaknesses. Nowadays incontinence products have evolved and they not only provide more protection and discretion to the wearer but they are also easier to handle, hence disposable incontinence products.
Disposable incontinence products range from disposable diapers through to bed sheets or bed protections and can be bought at any pharmacy, drug store or even online.
Many adults who experience incontinence often feel embarrassed about their condition. Any carer who works closely with incontinent adults can help improve their daily life by making them feel better about their condition. There are a many ways that to help the person you care for feel better about bladder weakness.
The first thing to do is to let them know it is a common condition experienced by many people of their age. Did you know that Incontinence and Bladder problems affect about 6 million people in the UK?
Knowing that there are others experiencing the same problems and they are not alone often makes them feel better about themselves.
Nothing to be ashamed of
Carers can significantly reduce the emotional concerns over bladder weakness/ incontinence by helping their loved ones feel less ashamed and being sensitive to their concerns.
Build up their confidence
Keeping initial outings short can help to build their confidence in how continence can be managed away from the home. After a few trips to nearby destinations, they will feel more comfortable about travelling further and for longer periods.
Caring for elderly incontinent people requires huge amounts of comprehension and patience but with a lot of understanding you can help them feel better about incontinence and get back to doing the things they enjoy.
Top 5 Natural Remedies for Incontinence
Incontinence is a health condition that many who experience it don’t want to talk about, even with their doctors. Here at All About Incontinence we cannot repeat enough that Incontinence is nothing to be ashamed of and it is treatable, be it with drugs, surgery or natural remedies and treatments.
There are many natural ways to treat incontinence. Exercises, lifestyle changes and healthy diets can all help you regain control of your bladder, reducing and sometimes even zeroing incontinence episodes.
Here are our top 5 natural remedies for incontinence
1. Kegel Exercises: Probably one of the most famous incontinence treatments. Ideal for early stages of incontinence, post-surgery and after birth. But Kegels can also be performed by women who don’t have incontinence to strengthen their pelvic floor muscles and increase their changes of not experiencing bladder weaknesses later in life.
2. Stay or Ger Fit: There are many studies that relate incontinence with excessive weight. Excess belly fat puts pressure on the bladder and the pelvic muscles. Shedding a few pounds if you are overweight can help restore your bladder control.
3. Bladder Training: A bit different from Kegel exercises. To train your bladder is rather simple but it requires patience. The secret is to learn how to control the urge to rush to the nearest toilet. In the beginning, try to delay urinating by 10 minutes and build up from there. Ideally you should increase the time till you can comfortably use the toilet every 4 hours. Keeping a bladder diary of your trips to the bathroom also helps keep track of your improvements.
4. Magnesium: Recent studies showed that the mineral reduced incontinence episodes in patients who took magnesium hydroxide pills twice a day. Some doctors believe that magnesium could relieve incontinence because it reduces bladder muscle spasms and allows the bladder to empty completely. These pills are not available on the market yet so you should include magnesium rich foods such as corn, potatoes and bananas in your diet.
5. Stay Hydrated: As controversial as it might sound, drinking enough water is vital to manage and avoid incontinence. If you don’t stay hydrated, you may end up constipated, which can irritate the bladder and cause incontinence.
Bonus tip: Avoid drinks that contain caffeine as it is a diuretic substance that can contribute to bladder irritation and stimulate muscle contractions, which can both cause incontinence.
Only a professional trained in these symptoms can truly diagnose and treat your condition. A GP will often refer you to a specialized Continence Advisor for assessment to ensure you receive the right help and treatment to improve your symptoms.
WFIP – Globalising Incontinence
Incontinence and pelvic floor disorders are health issues that affect millions of people worldwide. Each country has their national associations to aid incontinent patients in various ways. With so many associations worldwide it was time a global federation was created to unify all these associations in the best interest of incontinent patients.
That is why the WFIP was founded. WFIP stands for World Federation of Incontinent Patients and it was created with the intention of promoting worldwide the interests of patients suffering from incontinence and related pelvic floor disorders and patient associations.
The WFIP provides its individual member associations with the most comprehensive and up-to-date information, guidelines, and educational resources. It seeks global cooperation via lobbying and contact with official bodies and patient advocacy groups.
The World Federation for Incontinent Patients main calls to action are:
* Freedom of choice for all patients in access to treatment and rehabilitation
* Harmonisation of healthcare standards
* Improved social awareness and public health education
* Enhanced quality of life for people of all nations
Back in December during the WFIP annual meeting, new strategic priorities were discussed as well as new tactics to reach operational objectives, strengthen fund development and expand leadership and growth of the organisation.
Through publicity of its Patient Bill of Rights, WFIP hopes to improve access to safe, proven and advancing means of treating and managing bladder and bowel control problems. Also among its priorities are the establishment of global consumer guidelines for preventative and lifestyle measures and when to seek help for symptoms.
Regaining Control of your Leaking Bladder
If you have symptoms of stress incontinence or an overactive bladder, you may assume that so many visits to the bathroom are just another sign of aging, and one that you have to accept. Studies have shown that eight out of ten women believe that stress incontinence is a normal part of aging. They are wrong.
Even though urinary incontinence is common it occurs in at least one out of every three women over 50, it is not something you have to accept. If you have symptoms of stress incontinence or urge incontinence (leakage when coughing, sneezing, laughing or exercising, or the inability to make it to the toilet before letting go of your urine), there are several behavioural techniques you can try before visiting your doctor.
One very simple behavioural technique to consider is bladder training or retraining. Bladder training or retraining is teaching your bladder to resist the urge and delaying the time between trips to the bathroom. The underlying rationale here is that your bladder can become so used to going to the bathroom often that it can’t do anything else. Your bladder is sending a “full” message, giving you the urge to pee, even when it is not full.
Want to know how to train your bladder and regain control of it? Don’t miss our next article where we will show three simple steps to train your bladder.
An In-depth Look at Male Bladder Weakness
Despite what many people think incontinence and bladder weakness is not a women’s only problem. According to the World Health Organization there are roughly forty million men worldwide who are incontinent.
Male incontinence is just as common as any other disease – even though I don’t like to call it a disease. For me incontinence and bladder weakness are a condition that if diagnosed and treated properly it can be cured.
Just like women, men are also ashamed to talk about their condition and end up living with it for the rest of their lives.
“I’d rather admit I can’t get it up than say I suffer from bladder weakness”
I was shocked with such comment but glad because that inspired me to write this article. Bladder weakness is nothing to be ashamed of and in most cases it is treatable.
Types of Male Urinary Incontinence
Like in women, there are different types of male urinary incontinence and they are:
Stress Incontinence
Urge Incontinence
Overflow Incontinence
Functional Incontinence
Causes and Treatment
The causes of male urinary incontinence are many and varied. The same can be said about the treatments available to help men improve and in most cases cure their conditions. Finding out the cause is the first step towards the cure, hence the importance to seek help.
Causes of male incontinence
Bladder Problems
Prostate Problems
Head injury and spinal cord injury
Neurological diseases
Degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease
MS
Infections
Toxins
Medications
Mental State
Treatments
Treatment of male incontinence depends on the underlying cause of it. It is important that your family doctor is consulted. The doctor should give you a complete physical and from the information that you give him/her and the tests that can be carried out (often very simple) a diagnosis and treatment can often cure or minimize signs and symptoms of male urinary incontinence.
With forty million incontinent men around the globe this is a market that can not be ignored and it hasn’t. Proof to that is the evolution of male incontinence products, before they were designed mainly for women and men had to adapt them to use it. Even though they were labelled “Unisex”.
It doesn’t matter what type of incontinence you have; bladder problems that have caused incontinence; urinary tract infection or some other reason, one thing is for sure there are so many new and well designed male incontinence products that will allow you to live a normal life.
You wouldn’t believe, products like incontinence underwear, incontinence plastic pants, incontinence briefs, bladder control products, incontinence diapers, incontinence pads, incontinence bed pads, disposable incontinence diapers, portable urinals, Cunningham clamps, internal and external catheters, and this is just a short, short list of what is available for you guys.
Treating Mixed Urinary Incontinence with Magnetic Stimulation
Mixed urinary incontinence is probably the most difficult type of incontinence to treat because leakage can occur by urgency as well as by stress. In most cases it requires a staged multimodal treatment.
A recent study published on the BJUI (British Journal of Urology International) analysed the effectiveness of a pulsating magnetic field created by a device called Pulsegen – a small pocket device designed to fit in a patient’s underwear that produces a pulsating magnetic field of B = 10 microT intensity and a frequency of 10 Hz.
Powered by a small battery with a lifespan of about 8 weeks the stimulator provides 8 weeks of continuous functional magnetic stimulation.
The study assigned 39 with mixed urinary incontinence randomly in double-blind fashion to stimulation with either an active or inactive identical device.
After a two month follow up patients who remained blinded to treatment reported the success. Patients using the active device reported a significant decrease in 24-hour voiding frequency (from 9.0 to 6.7), nocturnal (from 2.6 to 1.4), and incontinence pad use (from 3.9 to 2.2).
Overall, 42% of the patients in the active functional magnetic stimulation group reported a clinical cure compared with 23% in the placebo group.
Sourced from: http://www.bjui.org/
Sacral Nerves Electric Stimulation a Surgeon’s View
Nearly 30% of adults in Britain have experienced some degree of incontinence, be it men or women. The worst part of all this is that the majority are ashamed to seek help or to bother about their condition.
There are many treatments and therapies available and some times cure incontinence completely. Today we bring you an extract from an article published on The Daily Mail Online.
The article is about a patient’s and surgeon’s view of a procedure used to treat and sometimes cure urge incontinence or if you prefer overactive bladder. In medical terms the treatment is called sacral neuromodulation for us mortals it is the stimulation of the nerves surrounding the bladder via electric pulses.
The Surgeon’s View
Jeremy Ockrim, consultant urological surgeon at University College Hospital and the Wellington Hospital, London.
Bladder problems can range from a sudden urge to go to the loo, which people are able to control, to cases where the urge is almost immediate — the patient passes urine before they can find a lavatory.
These conditions are caused by an overactive bladder — when the bladder fills with urine, it spasms, causing the urgency and, if the spasms continue, leakage of urine.
This is an embarrassing and debilitating condition.
Research shows sufferers are also at higher risk of depression and falls in older age, as they become anxious and rush to get to the loo. The cause is largely unknown, although it is linked to hormones (it’s more common in women after the menopause), childbirth and nerve problems.
Although men and women suffer equally, women are more likely to be wet because men have two sphincter muscles and the prostate to help control the bladder, rather than just one partial sphincter in women.
The condition also gets more common with age, affecting between 15 and 20 per cent of women in their 30s and 40s, and 30 per cent by 60 to 65.
Traditionally, there have been only two ways to treat the condition: physiotherapy, medication and bladder training for mild cases, and reconstructive surgery for severe cases, with nothing in between.
In the past ten years, Botox has been used to paralyse the bladder muscle, but there’s a 30 per cent risk of over-paralysing the bladder.
Sacral neuromodulation is a new treatment and works on the nerves rather than the bladder itself. It’s a bit like a pacemaker for the bladder.
In babies, passing urine is a reflex, which is why they do it every ten to 15 minutes. Adults normally have greater control because nerve messages from the brain stop this reflex. But in people who have bladder problems, this blocking signal from the brain doesn’t work properly, so they revert to reflex control.
This new technique ‘tickles’ the nerves with an electric current to reset the system back to adult setting.
Before a patient goes ahead with the full treatment, we test they are suitable (it won’t work in around 30 to 40 per cent of people).
To do this we insert a tiny wire in the sacrum (the lower part of the back), alongside the nerves leading to the bladder. This wire can be placed using local anaesthetic or sedation.
The patient then carries around a small generator for three weeks. If the treatment works, then we permanently implant a stimulator.
Here we place a small battery device under the skin in the lower back and then patients are given a remote control so they can change the settings if they need more or less control over their bladder.
Some have also reported a big improvement in their sex lives! This is because the nerves that supply the bladder also supply the genitals. This has been a surprising, but welcome, benefit for many.
In about 20 per cent of patients, the wire slips out of place, stops the device from working and needs to be replaced.
However, the latest devices have new leads, which hopefully will reduce this problem.
Although the treatment is approved by NICE, it is not widely used in this country because there are not many doctors trained to carry it out and the costs are high.
Last year, I performed 70 cases — mostly women between the ages of 40 and 60 — and currently have another 70 people on the waiting list.
The operation costs between £10,000 and £12,000 privately and has the same cost to the NHS.