Mother and Infant Care

Treatments & Conditions

Reducing Your Risk of Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is often a symptom of another condition. It cannot always be prevented.

In some cases, incontinence can be prevented by:

Emptying the bladder regularly
Treating constipation
Performing exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, such as Kegel exercises, especially if you are pregnant or have given birth
Making lifestyle changes, including having a healthy diet (eg, avoiding irritating fluids such as caffeine or alcohol), exercising, losing weight, and quitting smoking

References:

Beers M. The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. 17th ed. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck Research Laboratories; 1999.

Fecal and urinary incontinence in adults: clinical effectiveness to reduce the risk of urinary incontinence. National Library of Medicine website. Available at: . December 2007. Accessed August 7, 2010.

Kasper DL, Harrison TR. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 16th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2005.

3/5/2013 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance : Boyle R, Hay-Smith EJ, Cody JD, et al. Pelvic floor muscle training for prevention and treatment of urinary and fecal incontinence in antenatal and postnatal women. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Oct 17;(10):CD007471.

Last reviewed September 2012 by Adrienne Carmack, MD

Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

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