Coping With Adult Incontinence
| Health And Fitness : Food And Health For most of your adult life, incontinence is something to giggle about. "I laughed so much, I wet myself", we say with a smile and steadfastly crossed legs. But as we age and loss of bladder control becomes a reality, the humour fades. And it's downright deadly serious when you throw faecal incontinence into the mix. For the incontinent there's the shame and embarrassment of loss of control of bodily functions. Arguably though, it's worse for the carer to have to clean up after the parent or relative that they once held in high esteem. So, how do you cope? Well, the best place to start is an open and honest relationship between carer and cared-for. Good humour and a professional approach to cleaning up are important for the carer and will help to set the cared-for person's mind at rest and ease some of their embarrassment. Discussing the best way to manage a person's incontinence with them is important too. Do they feel happy wearing incontinence pads? Would they prefer to wear an adult nappy? It will help greatly if they are able to take ownership of their condition, rather than being forced to follow the management regime that's most convenient for their carer. Of course, the kind of incontinence products that you use will, to some extent, be dictated by how heavily incontinent someone is. Good product selection is vital, as finding a product with sufficient absorbency goes a long way to combating embarrassment. Incontinence pads are available in either shaped or micro, the former following the contours of the wearer's body and offering greater comfort while the latter offer more discretion. It's also important to use these with the appropriate type of incontinence pants which can be of either the sheer or waterproof variety. For the night time, adult nappies can be good. Like baby nappies, these come as all-in-ones with taped sides or as pull-ups. The latter are particularly good as they give the cared-for person some autonomy and therefore some dignity. For the nights, you're also going to need waterproof bedding and in particular bed pads which will help to save the mattress from repeated wetting. Unless, perhaps, you already work in healthcare, adult incontinence is not an easy thing to get used to in someone you love, but if you keep yourself open and honest, focus on the best interests of the person you're caring for and choose the right products, then you should at least, be able to cope.
 Questions about care products:
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