You jump. You slide. You even do the cha-cha. All in style, all with grace and poise. You can’t believe you’ve hit every step correctly – is this an exercise class for beginners? No. You are just that good! And then, just when you were beginning to wonder if you’d end up on Dancing with the Stars, something tragic happens. You stop. You miss the next step. You look around nervously for the bathroom and hope anyone who noticed the urine leakage might mistake it for a sweat droplet. Exercise comes to an abrupt halt and you go and deal with the issue at hand.
Can you relate to this story in any way? Many women who have had children or are entering pre-menopause might just be starting to notice signs of urinary incontinence or the inability to control your bladder. Weren’t you 20, like, yesterday? While you may certainly look and feel 20, aging is an unavoidable reality for everyone. And just like the outside, our insides are aging, too.
The Natural Aging of the Bladder
As women age and enter into menopause, the bladder naturally becomes weaker. Pelvic floor muscles surrounding the bladder become weak, too. Remember all those Kegel exercises your OB/GYN recommended while you were pregnant or during your annual exam? There’s a reason. Strengthening those core muscles is key to keeping leaks from happening. And guess what? They are still good for you to do. It’s never too late to start pelvic floor training and do some Kegel exercises.
According to the National Institute of Aging, the elastic bladder tissue may toughen and become less stretchy, causing you to not be able to hold as much urine and urinating more frequently. Or, the bladder wall and pelvic floor muscles may weaken, making it harder to empty the bladder fully and causing urine to leak.
All of this can seem a bit overwhelming and intimidating. Especially since you just never know when a leak might happen. Who wants to wear pantyliners for the rest of their lives? Nobody. Don’t worry, there is good news for you!
Ways to Care for Your Bladder
It seems only fitting to discuss ways to protect the bladder this November as it is National Bladder Health Awareness Month. When it comes to a leaky bladder, there are safe, natural ways to help prevent and even reverse the problem. Here are a few tips to help take care of your bladder that you can start doing now.
- Drink lots of water. This goes without saying, but it is often an overlooked step. Water naturally cleanses the bladder and is the best fluid for it. Get to drinking!
- Exercise regularly. Seems a bit of a paradox. You exercise to prevent leakage, yet exercise is the easiest place to notice when there’s leakage. The benefit of exercise on the bladder is that not only does it help you keep a healthy weight, but it also helps prevent constipation, which is also important for bladder health.
- Quit smoking.
- Urinate completely and often. Every three to four hours is best. When you do go, empty it completely. Surely the 10 more seconds it might take to do the job correctly won’t completely destroy your day. Your bladder will thank you!
- Urinate after sex. Any bacteria that might have traveled into the urethra will be washed away.
- Reduce your caffeine intake. (Ouch). For some, that might be a challenge. But it really does help. Caffeine can act as an irritant to your bladder, so limiting your supply could be just what you needed.
- And finally, seek non-invasive, non-surgical options like EMSella.
Benefits of EMSella
EMSella is the latest in treatment for overactive bladder and urinary incontinence. While remaining fully clothed, women will sit on the EMSella chair for 30 minutes while high intensity focused electromagnetic technology stimulates all the deep muscles of the pelvic floor. Muscles will contract in response to the stimulation. Have you tried those Kegel exercises yet? Sitting on the EMSella chair is the equivalent of doing more than 10,000 Kegel exercises! Not bad for sitting in a chair.
Good news, EMSella does not hurt. At most, there is a contraction-like pulling or tugging on the pelvic floor. Women will be able to easily carry on a conversation or read during the treatment. There is no downtime, and all regular activities can be resumed immediately.
In addition to EMSella, Dr. Christi may recommend an intensive pelvic floor muscle training plan or combine it with the new in-home device, levaes. This will ensure optimum results and continue to strengthen the muscles once the EMSella treatment is complete. The best part is that there is no medication and no surgery required. What a relief!
What are you waiting for? There are exercise classes for you to attend! Go to them with confidence. Call Dr. Christi’s office today at 281-542-8124 to see if EMSella is right for you.