World Continence Week - top tips for bladder health
One in four Australians experience some form of incontinence, but seeking help early can make a big difference.
This week is World Continence Week, focused on educating people about bladder and bowel health, encouraging early intervention and equipping health care workers to provide support.
Older people make up the largest group experiencing continence issues, but incontinence is not an inevitable part of ageing.
For most people it can be helped, cured or prevented with some simple interventions.
Top tips for addressing and preventing incontinence include:
- Keep your pelvic floor muscle strong. Pelvic floor muscles can become weakened over time, including through events like childbirth or lifestyle habits. Weak pelvic flood muscles can lead to stress incontinence (urine leakage when coughing, sneezing or laughing). Pelvic floor exercises can be done at any time – even while sitting down watching TV. Find some simple exercises here.
- Stay hydrated. Drinking about two litres of water during the day (and more in hot weather or if you are being active) stops urine from becoming too concentrated, which ca irritate the bladder and cause incontinence.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight can put strain on pelvic floor muscles.
- Keep physically active. Staying active helps keep your bowel regular, which helps prevent incontinence caused by constipation. It also helps with weight management and overall wellbeing. Use low impact exercises like walking, yoga, golf or pilates while strengthening the pelvic floor muscles.
- Establish good habits. Try to wait until your bladder is full before going to the toilet. Emptying the bladder too frequently can train it to hold less.
For more information, Bolton Clarke’s free Be Healthy and Active community education program offers practical sessions to help retain and regain bladder health.
Find out more here.
Watch a “What is Incontinence?” video here.
