Menopause and Bladder Control

Last Updated: May 1, 2003

Some women have bladder control problems after they stop having periods. After your periods end, your body stops making the female hormone estrogen. Estrogen controls how your body matures and your monthly periods. Estrogen also helps keep the lining of the bladder and the urethra plump and healthy.

Lack of estrogen causes the bladder control muscles to get weak. Pressure from coughing, sneezing or lifting can push urine through the weakened muscle. This kind of leakage is called stress incontinence. It is one of the most common kinds of bladder control problems in older women.

Another very common kind of bladder control problem for older women is urge incontinence. This means the bladder muscles squeeze at the wrong time -- or all the time -- and cause leaks.

What should you do about bladder control after menopause?
Talk to your health care provider. You may have stress or urge incontinence, but other things could also be happening. Medicines and exercises can restore bladder control in many cases. Your doctor will give you a checkup first.

What treatments can help?
It depends on what kind of bladder control problem you have. Hormone medicines are only one treatment. Other options include:
- Limiting caffeine.
- Exercising pelvic muscles.
- Training the bladder to hold more urine.

If these simple treatments do not work, your doctor may have you try something different, such as:
- Biofeedback.
- Electrical stimulation of pelvic muscles.
- A device inserted in the vagina to hold up the bladder.
- A device inserted directly into the urethra to block leakage.
- Surgery to lift a sagging bladder into a better position.

Source: National Institutes of Health

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