Enuresis

Surely you have heard and read, or even felt what the uncontrollable urge to urinate entails, so much so that the result it generates is a wet bed due to the spill of urine . Although it is believed that it is an absolute theme of young children, the truth is that it is not. Therefore, we have created this interesting article, to show that what concerns enuresis is more common than it may seem.

Enuresis can occur during the day or night, and when the incident occurs in children over 4 years of age, at least twice a day for three months in a row, it is time to consider it a disease , where there are no sex or age limits .

Definition of enuresis?

As we anticipated, enuresis is a very strong urinary incontinence , which consists of the recurrent urge to urinate involuntarily , even when the habit of going to the bathroom is correctly learned. It should be noted that this condition is not caused by the presence of another disease or by taking diuretic fluids.

Causes of enuresis

This difficulty, when it is nocturnal, generally occurs because the child is in a deep sleep that prevents him from waking up when his bladder fills up and , therefore , ends up emptying it on the bed or furniture. In most cases, enuresis is usually hereditary, so if one of the parents has suffered from this during childhood, the child is likely to have a high probability of suffering from it.

It can also be a sleep disturbance or not having learned properly to control the urge to urinate during the first years of learning. To these factors are added stress situations or behavior problems, which give rise to the presence of enuresis. Such as the death of a relative, separation of parents , change of residence or in more extreme cases, having been sexually abused or by surgical interventions.

Some studies have also revealed that unanchored households, mainly of their father or maternal figures, such as children who develop in a limited and precarious economic environment , have a greater chance of suffering from enuresis.

What is nocturnal enuresis about?

As its name indicates, it is a urinary incontinence that affects the patient only and exclusively at night. This happens when the person is in a state of sleep and causes involuntary loss of urine . If this occurs during the day, it would be called daytime wetting.

Is there infantile nocturnal enuresis?

Not only does it exist, but it is the most common enuresis that occurs, since everything starts from childhood. So much so, that studies have revealed that 1 in 10 children, between 5 and 9 years old, have infantile nocturnal enuresis , which decreases when they enter the adolescent stage.

You must remember that the action of urinating unconsciously is a natural stage during the child’s development, so you should not consider it as a learning problem when instilling the habit of going to the bathroom, as each one matures and develops control from your bladder at different time periods. In addition, few children are able to control their will to urinate before the age of 3 , as it generally occurs between 4 and 8 years of age.

When to go to a specialist?

If the child is already 6 years old or older, and others have enuresis during the day, it is advisable to go to the pediatrician specialist to determine what the possible causes may be. But, if the infant is 6 months without any type of incontinence and without wetting the bed with urine, and enuresis suddenly appears, it is necessary to visit the doctor.

You can also take these alerts into account :

1. The child begins to wet his underwear during the day.
2. He snores at night or sleeps with his mouth open.
3. There are complaints of pain or burning sensation when urinating.
4. You don’t urinate frequently.
5. Eat or drink more fluids than usual.
6. Your ankles or feet are swollen.

Do adults suffer from enuresis?

Although it is not something that can be generated regularly, it is possible in adults . When this is the case, it is determined as a secondary enuresis , and requires a medical evaluation. Faced with this problem, there are many causes that can cause this type of incontinence, such as:

• Urinary tract obstruction from bladder stones or kidney stones.
• Bladder problems: low or overactive nerves.
• Diabetes .
• Enlarged prostate.
• Side effects of a drug.
• Neurological disorders.
• Obstructive sleep apnea.
• Urinary tract infection .

To resolve enuresis in adults, various tests and procedures must be performed to determine the possible causes of urinary incontinence. Part of that process consists of:

1. Physical exploration.
2. Urine analysis.
3. Urology tests.
4. Neurological evaluation.

How is enuresis in adolescents?

Specialists have revealed that only 2 out of 100 15-year-olds manage to overcome urinary incontinence at this stage, so it is not an easy task to carry out. In most of these cases, enuresis occurs due to the absence of bladder control from birth or childhood . Also, it may have been overcome and reappeared after 6 months or more.

Like daytime or nocturnal enuresis in the adult or childhood phase, the causes of enuresis in adolescents can be multiple , such as the presence of urinary tract infections, diabetes and hereditary family history . In addition to these conditions:

1. Bad nutrition.
2. Excessive consumption of caffeine
3. Deep sleep pattern.
4. Inconsistent sleep schedule.
5. Limited hours of sleep.

What is the treatment for enuresis?

Although the correct treatment will be determined by a specialist in the field, there are easy processes that can help minimize the problem from home. One of them is bladder training, which will help the child, adult or adolescent go to the bathroom before urine leakage . In addition, this mechanism allows you to readjust the parts of the bladder that are not performing their functions correctly.

These would be the training indications:

• Make a scheduled bathroom time: The goal will be to urinate every 2 to 3 hours.
• Do a double urination: It consists of urinating twice in the same trip to the bathroom. This method allows the bladder to empty completely and consists of retaining or holding the urge to urinate, and then relaxing or releasing the pelvic floor muscles to finish flushing all the fluid.

If medications are suggested, the first option for specialists is to prescribe oxybutynin , which acts as a tranquilizer and calming agent for overactive bladder , which is one that seeks to overflow constantly and without warning. It is generally recited in children until they reach maturity to control their desire, and adolescents or adults until they overcome the problem naturally.

Also, if the cause of enuresis is a urinary or bladder infection, it is recurrent for the specialist to prescribe antibiotics to attack the bacteria that are causing the infectious focus.

Learn about the moisture alarm method for bedwetting

There are preventive treatments that encourage going to the bathroom to urinate. These are humidity sensors for bedwetting, which are known as urinary incontinence alarms. This device allows detecting the first drops of urine in the underwear of the child or adolescent and proceeds to activate an alarm to wake up the patient.

This sensor attaches via snap clips to clothing or pajamas without causing discomfort. Initially, you may need to help wake the child up and take him to the bathroom, but with time, he can easily adjust to the functioning of his bladder and go to the bathroom naturally of his own free will.

Parents are generally advised to use this bedwetting sensor method for a period of 3 to 4 minutes. Progress can be seen during the first weeks of use , where urine leaking is diminished, the alarm sounds less and less at night, and the child or adolescent begins to wake up to urinate.

How to treat enuresis at home?

Enuresis in psychology, that is, from the emotional point of view, can be very delicate at any age that excessive urinary incontinence occurs . Therefore, it is extremely important and psychologically advisable to act in the correct way to alleviate depressive and behavioral discomforts that may arise.

When it comes to a child or adolescent who wets their bed at night, it is no secret that washing the sheets can become a tiring and frustrating process . However, it is not wise to punish or humiliate the person affected by enuresis , quite the opposite.

Family support is very important, from parents to siblings. Therefore, psychologists recommend that they be treated with affection and understanding, always seeking comfort in the face of feelings of guilt and assuring them that the problem will be solved soon with the tools and treatments they decide to use.

It is normal that in these cases, when it comes to children, relatives or close people make jokes or ridicule about the situation. However, parents should completely avoid such behavior and comments , as this would aggravate the situation from a psychological point of view. Everyone should come together and become aware of the problem of enuresis.

Also, you can take these recommendations:

• Remind the child or adult to get up at night to go to the bathroom.
• Make sure the path to the bathroom is accessible to the affected person.
• Encourage the person suffering from enuresis to go to the bathroom before going to bed.
• Place a plastic cover over the mattress.
• It allows the child or adolescent to participate in the whole routine of washing the sheets and cleaning the bed, but without being humiliating or annoying.
• Remind the child or adolescent that bed-wetting is a normal condition that many people suffer from.
• Set aside sheets, pajamas, and dry towels so the patient can easily clean himself.
• Make sure that the child or adolescent does not use disposable diapers at home.

Can urinary incontinence be prevented?

Although it can occur at any time, and perhaps some causes are irrefutable, if it is possible that you can take some actions to prevent yourself from being a victim of enuresis, as well as to prevail your health.

• Practice Kegel exercises.
• Cut down on fluids like caffeine and alcoholic beverages.
• Fight constipation .
• Avoid obesity to counteract intra-abdominal pressure.

In the case of Kegel exercises, it is a highly used practice with excellent results, since it is useful for anyone, regardless of gender , since this allows them to strengthen the muscles that are located around the urethra and the entire floor pelvic . However, it is performed in most cases by enuresis or pregnant women.

In case you did not know, the function of the pelvic floor muscles is vital, since they allow to keep part of the urinary tract organs in the correct place , such as the urethra, bladder, rectum and vagina, in the case of women. When this area weakens, it gives way to slipping and the appearance of urinary incontinence.

These Kegel exercises consist of repeatedly contracting and relaxing the pubococcygeus, which is the main muscle of the pelvic floor and you can identify it when you go to the bathroom to urinate. Once you have located it, you can start with 10 contractions and relaxations, about 3 or 5 times a day . Consistency is what will yield good results, since the goal should be to achieve 200 repetitions daily , divided into 4 series of 50 actions of contracting and releasing.