Menopause and Incontinence
Menopause — or the so-called change of life — is no longer as mysterious as it was to past generations of women. Today, most middle-aged women expect their declining reproductive hormone levels to affect their health and well-being to some degree.
Beyond the expectations of shorter, lighter periods and the eventual end of menstruation and fertility, most women are prepared for the possibility of having to find ways to cope with weight gain, mood changes, sleep problems, fatigue, hot flashes, and night sweats.
What many women still aren’t ready for, though, is how readily menopause can give rise to urinary leakage or loss of bladder control — otherwise known as urinary incontinence.
At Virtuosa GYN in San Antonio, Texas, Dr. Susan Crockett and our expert team offer a full scope of treatment solutions for women with bothersome menopausal symptoms, including urinary incontinence. Here’s what you should know about this common problem.
Menopause and urinary incontinence
Women are twice as likely as men to experience urinary incontinence — either in the form of spontaneous urinary leakage, loss of bladder control, or both.
This embarrassing, unwanted problem is even more common than you may think: It affects up to 30% of young women, up to 40% of middle-aged women, and about 50% of older, post-menopausal women.
Pregnancy and childbirth
Through middle age, pregnancy and vaginal childbirth are the main catalysts of female urinary incontinence. Pregnancy places increased pressure on pelvic floor muscles that weakens them, while vaginal childbirth can intensify pelvic floor weakness and damage the nerves that control bladder function.
Diminished estrogen levels
In older age, urinary incontinence becomes even more common because of menopause. Just as lower estrogen levels lead to drier, thinning skin and vaginal tissues, they also thin the lining of your urethra, or the short tube that allows urine to leave your bladder and your body.
Cumulative effects of aging
It’s also common for the supportive pelvic muscles to weaken with age, a process known as pelvic relaxation. Taken altogether, having children, going through menopause, and getting older are reasons 1 in 2 women cope with the involuntary urine leakage in their later years.
Common urinary incontinence issues
Urinary incontinence causes the involuntary leaking of urine, either in the form of a few drops or something more severe. You may find yourself leaking urine:
- Before you can make it to the bathroom
- As soon as the sudden urge to urinate appears
- When you cough, laugh, exercise, or have sex
The nature of your urinary incontinence symptoms is what determines its type. For most women urinary leakage falls into one of the following categories:
Stress incontinence
The most prevalent form of urinary incontinence involves leakage that occurs when physical movement puts pressure on the bladder. Women with stress incontinence typically leak urine during intercourse or when they cough, sneeze, laugh, exercise, or lift something heavy.
Urge incontinence
Urge incontinence is the strong, sudden urge to urinate, followed by uncontrollable leakage when you don’t make it to the bathroom in time. Often referred to as having an overactive bladder, it can also give rise to nocturia, or waking two or more times each night with a strong urge to urinate.
Mixed incontinence
Some women experience mixed incontinence, meaning they have symptoms of both stress and urge incontinence.
You don’t have to live with incontinence
Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do to alleviate menopause-related urinary incontinence and prevent its recurrence, and we can help.
At Virtuosa GYN, most of our patients have had great success with a multi-faceted care approach that includes one or more of the following:
- Lifestyle changes (e.g., losing weight, limiting sodium and caffeine)
- Urgency suppression training (e.g., sitting still, relaxing, deep breathing)
- Bladder retraining techniques (e.g., going to the bathroom at set times)
- Physical therapy (e.g., pelvic floor training, or Kegel exercises)
- Bladder support devices (e.g., a pessary to reinforce pelvic muscles)
- Hormone replacement therapy to ease multiple menopausal symptoms
Urinary incontinence may be common after menopause, but it’s not a foregone conclusion or an inevitable part of aging that you must passively accept. To learn more or schedule a visit with our experts at Virtuosa GYN in San Antonio, Texas, call 210-664-4753 today.
