Urinary incontinence makes it more difficult to control your bladder and can be a very embarrassing condition to live with. Common risk factors for urinary incontinence include pregnancy, smoking, obesity, and menopause. Although this condition is not always easy to live with, you can manage it. Here are a few tips to handle urinary incontinence.

Perform Pelvic Floor Exercises

If you suffer from urinary incontinence, doing pelvic floor exercises every day can strengthen your bladder. To do these exercises, you just have to contract the muscles you use to stop urinating and hold that position for several seconds. Do several sets of these exercises each day. Before you know it, you will have a stronger bladder.

Get Down to a Healthy Weight

As mentioned above, obesity is a common risk factor for urinary incontinence. The extra weight can put extra pressure on your bladder, which can cause incontinence. Therefore, it may be best for you to lose excess weight. Focus on eating nutritious foods, like fruits, veggies, whole grains, chicken, and fish, and cut out junk food. It is also wise to work out most days of the week.

Drink Water

When you have urinary incontinence, you might think that you should reduce how much water you drink every day. However, it is still very important to stay hydrated. Not drinking enough water can actually reduce your bladder's capacity.

On the other hand, you should limit how much alcohol and caffeine you consume, as they can irritate your bladder.

Limit Lifting

If you have urinary incontinence, you will also want to avoid lifting as much as possible. Lifting, whether it is weights or a heavy box, can put too much stress on your pelvic floor muscles. If lifting is not avoidable, you should at least tighten your pelvic floor muscles while doing so.

Delay Urination

Delaying urination might seem like an impossible task when you deal with urinary incontinence. However, if you work at it for a while, you can succeed and retrain your bladder. Start by delaying each bathroom trip by just a few minutes. Once you get used to that, you may be able to hold your urine for even longer.

If you follow these helpful tips, you may be able to manage your urinary incontinence. If you need additional advice on dealing with your condition, you should not hesitate to contact your doctor as soon as possible. 

Contact a local health care service to learn more about urinary incontinence.