Managing Incontinence During Menopause

Loss of bladder control or urinary leakage is associated with menopause and ageing, but in most cases you can get urinary incontinence under control. Unfortunately for females, the prevalence of urinary incontinence increases with age and the onset of menopause. 

One of the most effective ways to manage incontinence later in life is to tone and strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Kegel exercises, yoga, pilates, and machine stimulation are all excellent at improving the physicality of the pelvic floor.

A stronger and more elastic pelvic floor will result in better bladder control, and eliminate the stress and panic of getting to the toilet in time. When it comes to managing incontinence during menopause, exercise to stimulate and contract your core muscles that support your bladder and urethra is essential.

To better understand how to treat incontinence later in life, here’s easy to understand information about how menopause and incontinence intersect with each other. 

‍Why Does Menopause Cause Incontinence? 

Just because you are experiencing menopause does not mean you will suffer from overactive bladder or urinary incontinence. For instance, your hormone levels and physical changes to your pelvic floor will influence how at risk you are of incontinence later in life. In the UK about 30% to 40% of women will experience menopause incontinence. 

As females go through perimenopause and menopause, the hormone oestrogen begins to drop in the body. Oestrogen plays a big role in bladder and urethra health; this hormone helps keep the muscles around the bladder and pelvic organs strong and flexible — less oestrogen causes the pelvic floor muscles to weaken. 

Is postmenopausal incontinence worse? If pelvic floor muscle health is not addressed after menopause, then incontinence symptoms may become worse and become quite distributive to your lifestyle and daily routine. 

Because of decreased oestrogen hormones levels as women age, incontinence during menopause is definitely cause for concern. There is a way you can rejuvenate your pelvic floor muscles to reduce symptoms of incontinence menopause — contact Este Medical at a clinic near you to discuss our Emsella pelvic floor muscle strengthening chair device. 

Ask about Emsella treatments to increase the strength of your pelvic floor, which will help to decrease and eliminate incontinence symptoms and improve an overactive bladder condition.  

What Are Menopause Incontinence Symptoms? 

There are a range of different symptoms when it comes to menopause urinary incontinence. It is helpful to be able to identify what type of incontinence is causing your problems. There are 3 types of incontinence associated with ageing, specifically perimenopause and menopause, they are: 

Stress incontinence

This type of incontinence is very common with older females. During menopause, weak pelvic floor muscles struggle to lock in urine when you cough, sneeze, laugh, or bend to lift something heavy for example. The strain on the pelvic floor can result in a small amount of urine leakage, or a complete loss of control.

With stress incontinence menopause, the pressure on the bladder and urethra is just too much for the pelvic floor muscles to control. A non-surgical treatment to improve muscle control is the Emsella chair device to strengthen the pelvic floor.   

Overactive bladder 

Also known as urge incontinence, this is when you feel the constant urge to pee, even when your bladder is empty or not full. Urge incontinence menopause can affect how often you urinate and your state of urgency; the condition is more common in people 65 and older.

An overactive bladder does not go away on its own, you need to be proactive when dealing with a weak bladder because symptoms may get worse. You should engage in frequent pelvic floor muscle exercises (i.e., Kegel exercises), and consider a non-invasive treatment like Emsella, a machine device that tightens the pelvic floor muscles to treat urinary incontinence and an overactive bladder.  

Overflow incontinence

Underactive bladder muscles and a weak pelvic floor can result in overflow incontinence. This type of incontinence is characteristic of a too-full bladder that can dribble pee continuously. It might also mean that some people struggle to empty their bladder all the way when they urinate.

Like stress and urge incontinence, this condition can be treated with a series of Emsella physiotherapy treatment sessions to improve bladder tone and strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. 

What Is An Effective Menopause Incontinence Treatment? ‍

By far one of the best new incontinence treatments now available is the Emsella chair device. Emsella treatment sessions are easy and pain-free; the chair device uses HIFEM (high-intensity focused electromagnetic) energy to target the pelvic floor muscles and improve muscle tone and strength.

The high-intensity energy of Emsella stimulates core muscles, which cause them to contract and strengthen — it gives the pelvic floor muscles a radically deep internal workout that improves pelvic floor health dramatically. There are other ways to prevent urinary incontinence, however Emsella delivers fast results and involves no surgery or downtime.

If you would like to discuss the benefits of having an Emsella treatment for incontinence, then send us a message through our website to book a consultation. There is no need to feel embarrassed about an overactive bladder or urinary overflow, we can help you treat your incontinence issues at Este Medical. 

Can Menopause Cause Incontinence? 

There is indisputable evidence that ageing and menopause play a role in different types of incontinence in females. Age-related changes to the tone and strength of the pelvic floor muscles, along with a big drop in the hormone oestrogen, can be a cause of incontinence in older women.

Emsella treatments will improve your quality of life once you take action to focus on your pelvic floor fitness. 

‍Contact Este Medical today to book a pelvic floor muscle treatment and breathe easier as you walk, not run, to the WC!