2015 World Continence Week

 

 

 

Some Facts about Incontinence

•Urinary Incontinence is any involuntary leakage of urine

•Faecal Incontinence is the involuntary loss of liquid or solid stool that is a social or hygienic problem

•Bladder and bowel control problems affect one in four people

•Up to 70% of women will experience urinary incontinence during or after pregnancy

•Incontinence is second only to dementia as the leading cause for admission into assisted living

•Bladder and bowel control problems are not a natural part of childbirth or ageing

•Bladder and bowel control problems can be treated, better managed or even cured

•Bladder and bowel health can be improved by adopting healthy habits: eat well, drink well, exercise regularly, keep your pelvic floor healthy, and practice good toilet habits

•Seek help from an incontinence trained health care professional or contact your local continence foundation for support

Some Interesting Facts about Incontinence for Women

(Information provided by Bellies Inc)

•Incontinence increases with age (Mason et al 2003)

•16% of women will experience incontinence from age 18-40

•33% of women will experience incontinence from age 41- 64

•55% of women will experience incontinence from age 65+

•Up to 70% of women will experience urinary incontinence during or after pregnancy (ref: stride poster)

•In the last trimester of pregnancy (Morkved & Bo 2003):

•48% of women who have given birth to one child have urinary incontinence

•85% of women who have given birth to more than one child have urinary incontinence

•If urinary incontinence is present at 12 weeks postpartum, 92% of women will still have urinary incontinence at 5 years (Viktrup & Lose 2000)

•5-7 years post-partum 44.6% of women have some urinary incontinence (Wilson et al 2002)

•25% of women who have given birth to one child have faecal incontinence postnatally (Donnelly et al 1998)

Treating Incontinence

Initiation of pelvic floor muscle training in immediate postpartum period may reduce the risk of future urinary incontinence (Joint SOGC/CSEP Clinical Practice Guidelines II-1C)

Internal assessment and treatment supervised by a qualified physiotherapist is 80% effective at improving and even curing urinary incontinence (Cochrane collaboration 2010)

Pelvic floor muscle training is the first line of treatment for women with urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse (Bo &Hilde 2013, Dumoulin & Hay-Smith 2010, Fritel et al 2010, Morkved & Bo 2013)

Pelvic floor physiotherapy is a highly effective and conservative way of treating incontinence and aims to restore your bladder and bowel health. If you have questions or would like further information, please feel free to contact Marnie Tocheniuk, a registered physiotherapist and pelvic floor physiotherapist.