Why does urinary incontinence occur when coughing?

Some women are often embarrassed by a minor illness of theirs. It is not due to aging, but urinary incontinence when coughing. It sounds strange, but in fact, it is really a symptom. It is caused by various reasons such as childbirth, aging, and decreased estrogen levels after menopause, as well as weakening of women's pelvic floor muscles and relaxation of related connective tissue, which ultimately leads to uterine prolapse. For this reason, this disease often occurs in middle-aged and elderly women. Relevant studies have shown that the incidence rate in women over 45 years old is as high as 40%. So, how do you determine whether you are facing uterine prolapse and what harm does this disease cause to you? Let us learn more about this disease today.

1. Symptoms of uterine prolapse

1. Urinary dysfunction: complicated by prolapse of the anterior vaginal wall, urinary difficulty and urine retention may occur. Some people also experience stress urinary incontinence, which means they may overflow urine when coughing, sneezing, or walking in a hurry. Due to long-term urine stimulation, the vulva may become inflamed and painful.

2. Lower back pain and a feeling of falling: Patients with uterine prolapse often feel lower back pain and a feeling of falling, and the anus and vagina may fall. The condition will improve after bed rest.

3. The tumor prolapses from the vagina: Initially, the uterus prolapses when the abdominal pressure increases, and then retracts automatically after rest. When the condition worsens, the uterus prolapses for a long time, and the swelling becomes larger and larger, it must be reduced manually. As the disease progresses, the prolapsed tissue becomes congested and edematous and cannot be returned to its original position, making it difficult to walk, or even impossible to move and have to stay in bed.

4. Changes in the uterus: The uterus prolapses outside for a long time, causing local thickening and keratinization. It may ulcerate due to friction, resulting in increased secretions, which sometimes contain blood.

5. Difficulty in defecation: If concurrent with rectal prolapse, defecation may become difficult, and sometimes the swelling needs to be pushed back before defecation can be discharged.

(II) Harms of uterine prolapse

1. Uterine prolapse affects pregnancy

Uterine prolapse has a certain impact on women's pregnancy. Uterine prolapse is divided into three degrees. Generally, patients with degree I or II uterine prolapse still have the possibility of pregnancy. If handled properly, it is still possible to become pregnant after treatment. However, it still has a certain impact on childbirth after pregnancy.

Patients with severe uterine prolapse often suffer from infertility. This is because semen is not easy to accumulate in the posterior fornix of the vagina, and patients with uterine prolapse often have complications such as cervical hypertrophy and chronic cervicitis.

2. Uterine prolapse can lead to excessive menstruation

The posterior tilt of the uterus can often cause the ovaries and fallopian tubes to sag backward and downward. Variations in the position of the ovaries and fallopian tubes can cause twisting of the pelvic veins, poor blood flow, and pelvic venous congestion, leading to menorrhagia, abdominal distension, back pain, and some women may also experience symptoms such as pain during sexual intercourse.

3. Uterine prolapse can cause dysmenorrhea

The shape of the retroverted uterus is like a teapot, the cervical canal is like the spout of the teapot, and the uterine body is like the body of the teapot. The cervix, which serves as the spout of the teapot, is located higher than the uterine cavity, which serves as the body of the teapot. The menstrual blood in the uterine cavity is difficult to be discharged from the "bottom of the teapot" through the cervical canal. In order to expel the menstrual blood in the "pot", the only way to force the menstrual blood out is to strengthen the contraction of the uterus and compress the volume of the uterine cavity as much as possible. Therefore, women with a retroverted uterus often experience dysmenorrhea due to spasmodic contractions of the uterine muscles.

4. Uterine prolapse can lead to endometriosis

Uterine prolapse can lead to endometriosis in women. As mentioned earlier, women with a retroverted uterus often need to strengthen uterine contractions during menstruation to force menstrual blood out of the body through the cervical canal. Intensified uterine contractions will inevitably cause increased pressure in the uterine cavity. Under the action of high pressure, part of the menstrual blood may flow back through the fallopian tubes into the pelvic cavity, causing endometriosis.

(III) How to care for uterine prolapse

First: pay attention to hygiene during pregnancy, have regular prenatal check-ups, and correct abnormal fetal positions in time to prevent dystocia.

Second: Promote uterine contraction, actively correct and treat postpartum uterine retroversion and poor involution.

Third: Use new delivery methods during delivery and protect the perineum. If there is any damage during the delivery process, it must be sutured and repaired in time.

Fourth: During the postpartum period and after miscarriage, the diet should be nutritious, diverse, and easy to digest to promote the recovery of pelvic floor muscle tissue strength and uterine involution. At the same time, you should get adequate rest, especially within 6 weeks after delivery. You should avoid heavy physical labor and other labor that can greatly increase abdominal pressure, such as lifting, picking, carrying, squatting, etc., and keep your bowel movements open, because these factors can cause the unrecovered uterus to sag and protrude out of the vagina.