Female Urinary Incontinence: Diagnosis and Treatment Options

Female urinary incontinence is often misunderstood to be a disease. However, one should understand that it is just a symptom. This is a symptom which is caused largely by the daily habits of a person. It can be cured with the help of medicines. Once the doctor makes an evaluation of your body, they will be able to tell you the cause and the remedy for it. It is often told by doctors- It is not how much you drink but what you drink!

The causes of this symptom are discussed in brief below. Like mentioned above, what you drink makes a lot of difference.

-Alcohol- alcohol is a direct stimulant of the bladder which results in temporary Female urinary incontinence. A small change in the consumed quantity can relieve you.

-Extra hydration- taking in a lot of fluids in a very short period of time will increase the symptoms. This is due to the fact that the urine gets highly concentrated. This can also increase the salt content in the body which results in the worst situation of Female urinary incontinence.

-Coffee- like alcohol caffeine is also a bladder stimulant. It has similar effects on the body and causes a sudden and frequent requirement to urinate.

-Dehydration- while over hydration is one extreme, dehydration is another extreme. If there is not enough fluid in the body, the concentration of salts increase in the body which causes an irritated effect on the vaginal area when the urine is passed.

In order to diagnose your Female urinary incontinence, the doctor will first enquire about your family medical history and the symptoms which are prevailing at the present. Your pattern of urination will be the deciding factor. If you are not sure of the frequency at which the urination occurs, he might suggest you to maintain a record (diary). This recording may go up to a week. Apart from the urination, you will also have to keep a track of the liquid intake and any other conditions such as irritation, drug usage, surgeries done in the past, etc.  Once this is known, a physical examination is done in order to check for any signs of the symptom. If it is found to be present, a series of tests are required to be done for the treatment to be planned according to the body reactions and condition. The tests undertaken are as follows:

-Bladder stress test

-Urine test

-Blood test

-Cystoscopy

-Ultra sound

The treatment for this symptom uses many kinds of drugs which have an effective reduction in the leakage intensity. The person is advised to have a balanced diet and should strictly watch his or her fluid intake. There are a few drugs which ease the urinary bladder and thus the frequency is reduced. The muscles are also made to function properly which gives the person the ability to have complete control over the bladder. However, these antibiotic drugs have side effects which may cause breast and cervical cancer in the long run. � �