Dr Sarah Jarvis
My Weekly’s favourite GP from TV and radio writes for you
All too many of us have bad bladder habits. LUTS, or Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms, get more common with age. The way we treat our bladders can lead to disturbed nights and accidents. Read on for my top tips on treating your bladder with respect…
Were you one of the millions of mothers who asked your children, as they piled into the car to leave the house, “Are you sure you don’t need to go to the loo just in case?” I know I was. That’s fine for children, but as an adult you could be storing up problems.
As an adult, your bladder should be big enough to store up to a pint of urine. As it fills, it sends messages to your brain that you need to empty it. It’s usual to go every few hours, and to get up at night once. However, if you have urge incontinence, there’s a mismatch in the messages between your brain and bladder. You may need to pass water very often, and get a sudden urge to empty your bladder, followed by an accident if you don’t get to the loo in time.
Possibly as many as 6 million British women suffer from urge incontinence or stress incontinence (accidents when you cough, sneeze, laugh, run, jump etc). If you’re worried about accidents, it’s natural to get into the habit of emptying your bladder often to cut the risk of accidents. But if you do this too much, your bladder is never full enough to stretch it, and the smaller it gets – so the more often you need to go.
Many women with incontinence also restrict their fluid intake to avoid accidents, but this can lead to
SUDDEN BURNING AND STINGING WHEN YOU PASS WATER, ALONG WITH A NEED TO GO MORE OFTEN AND LOW TUMMY PAIN, COULD MEAN CYSTITIS – SEE YOUR GP
concentrated urine, which can irritate your bladder. This can make urge incontinence in particular worse. If you have continence problems, do speak to your GP, who can arrange a referral to a specialist clinic.
For most healthy women, holding onto your urine doesn’t cause cystitis. Urine is usually sterile, and cystitis is a bladder infection caused by germs getting into your bladder, usually by passing up your urethra – the tube your urine comes out of.
If there are already germs in the bladder, holding on can allow them to multiply, leading to symptoms of infection. So if you’re at high risk of cystitis (eg if you get recurrent cystitis or are pregnant) it’s not a good idea. It also puts more pressure on the valve at the bottom of the bladder that stops leaks – so if you suffer from stress incontinence, you’re more likely to have an accident.
Not emptying your bladder properly makes you prone to urine infections like cystitis and even to bladder stones (more common in men with prostate problems). You may feel bloated, leak urine, need to strain to pass urine and even end up with kidney damage. For best bladder etiquette: ◆ As a woman, your bladder empties best if you’re sitting with your feet planted on the floor or a footstool ◆ As a man, it’s better if you’re standing up ◆ Avoid being in a rush when you empty your bladder ◆ Keep your bowels regular with plenty of fibre (and laxatives if needed) ◆ Try and build up the time
between trips to the loo ◆ When you’ve finished, wait 30 seconds, lean forward and try and pass a bit more urine ◆ Wear products designed for incontinence, rather than relying on sanitary products ◆ Don’t restrict fluid too much ◆ Avoid alcohol, a diuretic ◆ Try cutting out caffeine if you have urge incontinence Next Week: The fuss about statins
IF YOU’RE GOING TO YOUR GP WITH A WATERWORKS PROBLEM, ALWAYS TAKE A URINE SAMPLE WITH YOU. GET A CONTAINER FROM YOUR GP RECEPTION
THE WAY WE TREAT OUR BLADDERS CAN LEAD TO DISTURBED NIGHTS AND ACCIDENTS’’