Incontinence

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INCONTINENCE

You know the line: You laughed so hard...You know the rest. But when a woman loses control of her bladder often enough to be a problem, it's not funny-it's urinary incontinence.

Bona fide cures

Use kegels to build pelvic muscles

Kegels, or pelvic-muscle exercises, built strength and endurance in the muscles of the bladder. According to women doctors, kegel exercises are now the first-line approach in treating most types of incontinence.

Call up a kegel coach

To do kegels corectly, women doctors advise getting some coaching from health care practitioners. Of all the exercises that you can do, pelvic-floor exercises win the prize for the heardest to learn.

Practice kegels in the shower

It takes about eight weeks of intense kegel training before you notice any improvement at all. Be patient. You're bulking up a muscle in your pelvis. And just like any other muscle-building exercise, it takes time. If you're trying to get strong arms, you don't do just one push-up now and then.

Urinate every three to four hours

Regular voiding prevents the bladder from getting too full. A lot of busy women find that they are going once in the morning, then not again until they get home at night.

Traveling? Hold the fluid

When traveling without easy access to rest rooms, drink no more than one quart of fluid a day, for convenience, and plan your last beverage for two hours before your trip. St your destination, remember to choose liquids other than alcohol or caffeine beverages like coffee, which stimulate urine production and make you go.