What is BMI

You need to know your BMI before knowing if you are at risk of incontinence. Your BMI can tell you the percentage of body fat that a person has. If your BMI is over 25 or is close to the threshold for obese or morbidly obese persons, people may have worse incontinence problems than their BMIs would predict. On the other side, someone with a high BMI may not need regular bladder catheterization because they have no excess body fat to put pressure on the bladder walls and cause them to leak urine during coughing episodes or sneezing fits. It would help if you used BMI charts (see below for link) to help determine your BMI level. 

Causes of incontinence 

What causes a person not to contain their urine in their bladder? Why do they often leak urine when they cough or sneeze? Why do some people have trouble controlling their urge to urinate and end up peeing on themselves in several embarrassing situations? We may not have all the answers, but some factors are more commonly associated with incontinence. These factors include excess body weight, being pregnant, and health conditions like diabetes, Parkinson's Disease, multiple sclerosis, and others.

A person's weight is an essential factor in having incontinence problems. Although being overweight may not be the same as having incontinence, there is a link between overweight and incontinence problems. The more excess weight a person has on their body, the more likely they will experience some form of lower urinary tract symptoms. This effect is called the weight-incontinence paradox. A study using data from the UK Biobank (a significant and ongoing analysis of patients aged 39-73) found that normal-weight women had almost twice as many episodes of nocturia as obese women did (7 vs three episodes per week). Being overweight can increase the amount of pressure on the bladder from pushing out against the muscles and tissue surrounding it. When these muscles are constantly being pushed upon, they can become sore and weaker. This allows urine to leak out of a person's bladder.

Bladder catheterization 

A bladder catheter is a thin tube usually one or two inches long that a clinician inserts through a person's urethra and into their bladder to drain their urine into a nearby toilet or container.

A bladder catheter is inserted in:

Procedure: The patient should be able to lie on their left side, and the clinician makes an incision through the groin and into the bladder. The catheter is inserted through the incision. Once in place, a clinician presses a valve connecting it to a drainage bag. The bag is emptied every 30 to 60 minutes. This can also be done by squeezing or squeezing and pulling simultaneously, as well as other techniques used for different parts of the urinary tract, such as removing sigmoidoscopy stones.

Complications: Bladder catheterization may cause bleeding, infection, and urinary tract stones. There may be more severe complications, including bladder damage and urinary stasis. Some people who are undergoing a procedure for bladder catheterization may feel full due to the continuous draining of their urine. In some cases, patients will tell the clinician that the bag exerts pressure on their abdomen or hips. If this occurs, it is generally thought that a stream of urine has been emerging from the catheter rather than being drained into the toilet. However, it is not clear whether this is an actual problem.

When bladder catheterization is necessary, it is generally done to treat a urinary tract infection. Some people undergoing a bladder catheterization for lower urinary tract symptoms may be given antibiotics through the catheter itself. The antibiotics may irritate the bladder or adjacent area and cause mild pain. Over-the-counter medications can alleviate this, including acetaminophen or ibuprofen and hydrocortisone cream applied directly to the skin around the incision site.

Urinary retention – is it your problem?

 

Small pieces of urinary tissue may remain in your bladder after urination and stop you from urinating normally. This is known as urinary retention.

Symptoms: You may notice any of these symptoms if you have urinary retention: 

A doctor can use an ultrasound scan to see if there are pieces of tissue in your bladder. You may need to have a cystoscopy, where a tube with a light and camera on end is inserted into your bottom through your urethra. This will allow them to see inside your bladder and remove the tissue that is causing the problem.

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) 

Lower urinary tract symptoms include urgency, frequency and nocturia. 

Urgency: Urgent urination means that a person suddenly and urgently needs to go to the toilet. 

Frequency: Urgency may be associated with the need to urinate every few minutes. The frequency may be the need to urinate multiple times during a single night or multiple nights during a week due to increased bladder pressure. 

A doctor will often ask you about your frequency and urgency when checking for urinary tract infections (UTIs).