Age can weaken the bladder muscles, as well as surgery and childbirth. Menopause can also increase risk for stress urinary incontinence and bladder leaks. Plus, certain foods, drinks and medications may stimulate your bladder and cause temporary incontinence.

Home Remedies for Stress Urinary Incontinence:

• Pelvic Floor Exercises. Also called Kegels for the doctor who began recommending them to his patients as part of their treatment plan. This form of exercise involves the flexing of the muscles that are used to control the flow and stopping of urine. The need to be practiced for several weeks before seeing positive results against stress urinary incontinence. The easiest way to locate these muscles is to try and stop your urine midstream while emptying your bladder, and then start again. Try to keep your other muscles relaxed while doing these exercises and breathe!

• Tighten your pelvic floor muscles and hold for a count of 8 to 10. If you can’t hold that long, hold as long as you can.
• Then, relax the same muscles for 8-10 counts.
• Do 8 to 12 repetitions of this exercise, 3 times a day.¹

• Diet and Supplements: Magnesium and Vitamin D may be helpful – Magnesium for muscle relation and Vitamin D to strengthen muscles. Magnesium-rich foods include nuts, seeds, potato, corn bananas and yogurt. Or you can take a Magnesium hydroxide supplement. Vitamin-D can be found in foods such as fish, oysters, egg yolks, fortified milk and other dairy products. You can also get Vitamin D from 10 minutes of sunlight exposure every day, or from supplement.

• Yoga, Meditation, Accupuncture and Hypnotherapy. Many people find alternative therapies helpful to reduce emotional stress and control muscle movement

• Weight Loss: Excess fat accumulation on the stomach leads to extra pressure on the pelvic floor muscles and the bladder. Maintaining a healthy body weight can help restore control over these muscles and the bladder function.