Why Your Bladder Acts Up in Your 40s: Midlife Incontinence for Women
Aging brings change, and not all change is positive. Midlife incontinence is a common problem for women, but it’s one that can be treated. Here’s more information on what causes bladder changes with age, and what you can do about them.
Why Women Suddenly Have Midlife Incontinence And What to Do About It
We’ve all heard the saying “With age comes experience.”
Age may also bring new health concerns for many women, including bladder problems in our 40s.
Many of us live through bladder changes with age, with problems like midlife incontinence becoming an issue.
If you’re asking: why do I have sudden urinary incontinence in my 40s? You’re not alone. In fact, this is a common condition for women as we get older.
Read on for all you need to know about dealing with midlife incontinence and other bladder problems.
What Are Bladder Changes with Age?
Midlife often brings a constant worry about the location of the nearest bathroom, as bladder leaks become more commonplace. What are the main changes to our bladder as we age?
Female Urinary Incontinence
The involuntary leakage of urine, known as urinary incontinence, is one of the most common conditions of the bladder for women as we age. It’s estimated that urinary incontinence affects 50% of adult women, increasing as we age, so that up to 75% of women over 65 report urine leakage.1
Incontinence can impact your physical, social, and psychological well-being, affecting quality of life at home, at work, and when it comes to social situations.
There are different types of urinary incontinence, with different causes, characteristics and triggers.
Types of incontinence include:
- Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI): Urine leaks when movement or activity puts pressure on your bladder. That includes actions like coughing, laughing, sneezing, running, or heavy lifting. It can also leak when you’re having sex.2
- Urge incontinence: Urine leaks because you have a sudden and intense need to pee immediately, and you can’t make it to a toilet in time. A related condition known as overactive bladder is a common cause of urge incontinence.3
- Overflow incontinence: Your bladder doesn’t completely empty each time you pee, causing overflows that lead to leaks.3
- Mixed incontinence: A combination of several conditions lead to bladder leakage problems, such as a mix of stress incontinence and overactive bladder.3
Leaking pee is the main side effect of incontinence. That could be a small amount or quite a bit of pee, and the other symptoms may vary depending on the type of incontinence.
Here are the other main symptoms of incontinence:3
- A frequent need to pee, typically more than eight times a day.
- Needing to use the bathroom, but then only a small amount comes out.
- Waking up to pee more than twice during the night, known as nocturia.
- Wetting the bed.
- Leaking pee during activities like exercise, laughing, coughing, sneezing, bending over or having sex.
Overactive Bladder
Another common bladder problem that can arise in our 40s is overactive bladder or OAB. This is when you suffer from sudden urges to urinate that may be hard to control. This sudden urge might result in leaks because you can’t make it to the bathroom in time.
OAB can result in the need to pee many times during the day, and it can impact your sleep as you need to pee often during the night too. OAB can also cause urine leaks, which is called urgency incontinence.4
Here are the symptoms of overactive bladder:4
- Feeling a sudden urge to pee that's hard to control.
- Leaking urine.
- Needing to pee often, defined as eight or more times in 24 hours.
- Waking up more than twice a night to pee, known as nocturia.
It’s true that the symptoms sound the same for these different bladder problems in your 40s. It’s important to see a healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment, because these problems can be treated. But what causes midlife incontinence?
What Causes Bladder Problems for Women with Age?
To understand bladder control problems, it helps to understand how the bladder works. This hollow organ is part of our urinary system, which also includes the kidneys, ureters, and urethra.
When your bladder gets full, it signals you to head to the bathroom to empty it. When you pee, muscles in the bladder tighten to move urine into the tube-shaped urethra. The muscles around the urethra then relax to let the urine move out of the bladder.
Problems can arise when the muscles in and around the bladder don’t work the way they should.5
What Causes Incontinence?
Leaking urine may be a temporary issue, such as when you are suffering from a urinary tract infection, for instance. Other short-term causes of incontinence include medications like water pills or diuretics. Some people react to certain drinks like coffee or alcohol. Pregnancy can be another cause for short-term incontinence.3
Long-term incontinence has other causes.
Here are the main factors that can lead to bladder problems:
Weakened Pelvic Floor Muscles
What is the pelvic floor? These important muscles and ligaments form a hammock-like structure to support your pelvic organs. The pelvic floor also assists with essential bodily functions, like pooping, peeing and having sex. The muscles support the bladder and help it function properly.
Pelvic floor muscles can weaken over time due to injury, childbirth, and the normal aging process. Weakened pelvic floor muscles can lead to conditions like incontinence, along with other pelvic health problems like prolapse.
Changes with Age
The natural act of aging can include aging of the bladder muscles. This can lead to a decrease in your bladder's capacity to store urine. Involuntary bladder contractions may become more frequent as you get older.
Another factor is menopause, which leads to less estrogen production. This hormone helps keep the lining of the bladder and urethra healthy, so deterioration of these tissues can lead to incontinence.7
Medical Conditions
Women who suffer from a long-term medical condition like diabetes, or Parkinson's disease, may also have trouble with bladder control. Lifestyle issues like obesity and smoking can also contribute to bladder problems.8
What Can I Do About Bladder Control Problems?
If you’re suffering from a bladder issue like midlife incontinence, your first step should be to see your doctor. But one of the best steps you can take, at any age, is to practice pelvic floor muscles exercises on a regular basis.
Exercising your pelvic floor muscles can combat the negative effects of having weak pelvic floor muscles,6 which can lead to problems with bladder control and conditions like incontinence. In fact, research has shown that pelvic floor exercises can give you better control over your bladder and bowels, and prevent your pelvic muscles from getting weak in the first place.
How do you exercise your pelvic floor muscles? By performing Kegels, named for the doctor who first described them. He introduced the concept of exercising the pelvic floor muscles in the 1940s, so these contraction exercises are named after him.
How to Perform Kegels
The first step to doing Kegels is to be sure you’re using the correct muscles. Contract your pelvic area just like you would when you stop the flow of urine, or prevent gas from passing. This contraction should create a "pulling" feeling in your vaginal or rectal area.
Follow these steps to do Kegels on a regular basis:9
- Contract the pelvic floor muscles for three seconds.
- Fully relax the muscles for three seconds.
- Repeat 10 times, eventually working up to 15 repetitions.
- Do three sessions a day: once sitting, once standing, and once lying down, as using all three positions makes the muscles strongest.
How Do I Make Sure I’m Doing Kegels Properly?
If you’re not certain about your technique for pelvic floor muscles exercises, ask your doctor for guidance. A pelvic floor physical therapist can also ensure you’re doing them properly.
Another option is using a clinically proven tool that guides your body and ensures you are properly performing Kegels.
One such tool is the Gynesis pelvic floor trainer shorts. These shorts use advanced technology to deliver targeted muscle stimulation that helps retrain and rebuild your pelvic floor.
The Gynesis shorts employ an exclusive Multipath Technology, which delivers electrical stimulation to a variety of areas in your pelvic floor. This solution has been cleared by the FDA and is designed to be comfortable for everyday use.
Find a Women’s Health Specialist in Your Area: Physician Finder Tool
Bladder problems in your 40s might be common, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept them. Some women are hesitant to talk about urine leaks, due to embarrassment or a belief that it’s simply part of aging. Bladder control problems can be treated.
Use our Physician Finder to find a doctor near you with expertise in women’s health, so you can deal with sudden urinary incontinence and other bladder problems.
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2- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stress-incontinence/symptoms-causes/syc-20355727
3- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17596-urinary-incontinence
4- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/overactive-bladder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355715
5- https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/bladder-health-and-incontinence/urinary-incontinence-older-adults
6- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22729-pelvic-floor-muscles
8- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14248-overactive-bladder
9- https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/urologic-diseases/kegel-exercises
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