728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Living with Incontinence › Treating Stress Urinary Incontinence

Treating Stress Urinary Incontinence

A Common Condition with Surprising Remedies

By Katherine Bontrager

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

One Woman's Cure
For Kaplan, who rejected her doctor's offer to fix her incontinence surgically, the end to her symptoms was found in a surprising place. After knee surgery she was instructed to use an exercise machine to keep the muscles around her knees strong. "Nothing happened at first, but then my incontinence went away," she says. "It's been gone for a long time and hasn't returned!"

Treating Stress Urinary Incontinence-A Common Condition With Surprising Remedies Kaplan believes two weight machines were responsible for her cure: one in which you sit and use your knees to push against resistance and the other where you pull the knees together.

"Maybe a year later it dawned on me that when I laughed, even when I laughed really hard, I wasn't leaking any more," she says. "Saturday the weather was nice in Boston and I decided to take a walk. I didn't even put a protective pad on. A few years ago, that would have been wetville."

Kaplan was fortunate to find success in such a simple solution. Most women must find relief in more traditional methods. Still, the relief and freedom felt at regaining control is something that cannot be measured. And this freedom is a distinct possibility, today more than ever.

"In generations past, women were provided with little information about incontinence and remained unaware of the various ways that bladder problems can be prevented or treated," says Dr. Goldberg. "The good news for today's mom-to-be? Attitudes are changing fast. Incontinence is no longer regarded as the 'inevitable cost' of having a baby. If you're pregnant, learning 'what to expect while you're expecting' is certainly important, but knowing what to expect afterward is the key to maintaining your healthy lifestyle."

A Resource for Help

You can find additional information on stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and other various forms of incontinence, including urge, mixed and overflow incontinence through the National Association For Continence. This national nonprofit organization is dedicated to improving the quality of life of those affected by this problem.

"NAFC is the world's largest and most prolific organization that has focused on educating the public and advocating on behalf of those with bladder control problems," says Nancy Muller, the executive director of NAFC.

The organization offers a quarterly newsletter filled with advice and practical information, a resource guide of products and services for incontinence, a database of health care professionals and educational information.

"I'm really quite proud of how wide our reach is," Muller says. "We have about 135,000 individuals in our database, whose contact information we guard very carefully to protect their privacy."

Muller reports that the 22-year-old organization has found that young women tend to be less knowledgeable about incontinence than older women. "We can't allow people to grow old harboring the same myths and misunderstandings and living in isolation when so many could be helped or cured if they were properly diagnosed and followed a recommended protocol," Muller says.


Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Want to see more?

Comments

Found 1 comment
Displaying all 1 comments below

Re: Treating Stress Urinary Incontinence by anonymous on 03/19/2009 05:45PM

When you are pregnant, it presses on your bladder, so yeah, it is a problem.

add a comment.

Post As:
Enter your comment below:
Title
Comment Text
CAPTCHA
Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection.