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Women Specific Incontinence Control Lifestyle Methods

Women are more likely than men to suffer from incontinence issues. Incontinence can be embarrassing especially at work, school or anywhere in public. The one thing you desire most is control. Incontinence can make you feel like things are so out of control that gaining that control back can feel like a daunting prospect. There are some simple lifestyle changes that you can make right now that could make a difference. These lifestyle changes, doctors refer to as "behavior therapies" can help to bring you more in control of your situation. These are lifestyle changes because in order to bring about control over a situation, you need to focus on a lifestyle habit that directly impacts the situation you need to modify and then put into motion a behavior that will change that habit to start a new lifestyle behavior that is compatible with your desired goal.

Behavior therapies are easy, effective, inexpensive and best of all safe. These behaviors should be tried as a first line of attack in your plan to gain control over incontinence. It may just be that these behavior therapies are the only "treatment" you may require.

Your bladder habits are closely related to the fluids and foods you take into your body.

Most people understand that drinking too many fluids will cause you to have to urinate more often. Did you know though, that if you drink too many fluids over a short period of time, that you could overwhelm your bladder? This will cause your bladder to give out a sense of urgency. Women who work out of doors or who exercise outside may need to take in more fluids than those who do not. The lifestyle change to make in this situation would be to take in the extra fluids that you need spread out over the course of the day and not all at once.

Concentrate on drinking most of daily fluids you need in the mornings and afternoons and limit the fluid intake in the evening hours. You want to especially eliminate any fluids that contain caffeine like coffee, tea and sodas and alcoholic beverages. Some foods are also considered fluids like soups and Jello. If you do not have any activity need or other need for increased fluids like pregnancy, and you are experiencing incontinence, you may wish to limit your daily fluid intake to between 6 and 8 cups.

You may be experiencing the opposite lifestyle problem. There are women who have very busy lives and seldom think about taking in enough fluids. In this case the daily fluid intake is less than required by their bodies and their urine becomes too concentrated (dark yellow and has a strong smell). This highly concentrated urine can irritate your bladder. You will then feel an increased need to urinate. This problem can also lead to urinary tract infection (UTI). These UTIs can of in themselves cause the type of incontinence called: urge incontinence. Women in this situation need to increase their daily fluid intake to at least a total of 6 - 8 cups of fluid a day.

There are lifestyle habits that can be irritants to bladders. These habits are:

Consuming caffeinated foods and beverages

Consuming alcoholic beverages

Eating acidic fruits like grapefruit, lemons, limes, oranges and also tomato-based products.

Eating spicy foods and foods that contain artificial sweeteners

Fruit juices and carbonated drinks

Making a behavior change to either eliminate the worst offending in the above list or at least to spread out your consumption so that you are not having multiple items from the list all at once or at the same meal. Replacing an item on the list with an alternative item not on the list; like, replace coffee with a decaffeinated coffee, de-caf tea or water.