Incontinence in women

In most cases, incontinence in women is linked to a weakening of pelvic floor muscles. It may be caused by a uterine prolapse (when the uterus slips, or sags into the vagina) or by constipation, which increases pressure onto pelvic floor muscles. Furthermore, stress can weaken the bladder sphincter and increase pressure on pelvic floor muscles. With age, the nerve signals sent from the bladder to the brain become less accurate and, therefore, less effective.

In some instances, incontinence is the result of chronic bladder infection. It is essential to consult a medical doctor to diagnose and treat the infection, if need be.

Incontinence can also be caused by a nutritional deficiency in magnesium.

Almonds, cashews, figs, whole cereals, dark green vegetables and fish are all good sources of magnesium. If you choose to buy magnesium as a supplement, the best choices are magnesium bisglycinate, magnesium citrate or chelated magnesium. Both magnesium and Vitamin E are especially good to reinforce sphincters or lazy muscles.

Minerals and trace elements are essential for the nervous system to relay messages from the bladder to the brain. 

The following Schussler mineral salts can help strengthen sphincters:

• Ferrum phosphoricum,
• Kalium phosphoricum,
• Natrum muriaticum,
• Calcarea phosphorica,
• Natrum phosphoricum

Stinging Nettle from A.Vogel is rich in silica, a mineral that helps firming connective tissues (tendons and muscles) and healing irritated urinary tract membranes. This plant encourages the elimination of bladder irritating acids.

Cystoforce Bladder formula is a combination of Echinacea and Bearberry that is quite effective to relieve urinary tract infections.

Kegel exercises are a must to strengthen pelvic floor muscles. We suggest 10 repetitions, 3 times per day.

Exercise 1

Picture yourself trying to stop passing a gas. To control it, you must squeeze the muscles around your anus. Contract those muscles as if you really had gas. Do it now!! You should feel the contraction, yet your buttocks and thighs should not move at all. You should feel your skin tighten around your anus and feel it move upwards, away from your chair.

Exercise 2

Picture yourself sitting on the toilet having a pee. Try to stop the flow of urine. You can actually go to the toilet and try it for real to make sure that you are contracting the correct muscles. Stopping urine flow can be difficult because of the pressure exerted by the bladder.

Exercise 3

For this exercise, you need to lie down, bend your legs and let your knees fall to the side. Picture someone trying to insert a needle between you vagina and your anus. Contract your pelvic floor muscles until that specific zone goes in, away from the needle. Squeeze tight. Do not move your legs, keep your buttocks on the floor and do not hold your breath.

It is much better to do the Kegel exercises on an empty bladder.