How Your Bladder Can Cause You to Fall

a woman struggling to make it to the bathroom

By Jennifer Footit-Tank RN BSN, quality care coordinator at Network Health
7/23/2024

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) one in four people over age 65 will experience a fall. Compounding falls risk are bladder control issues which make a person twice as likely to fall.

Bladder issues, also known as urinary incontinence, can range from leaking a few drops of urine to complete emptying of your bladder. Urinary incontinence has been found to be a major distractor for older adults. When you are distracted rushing to the bathroom you have a decreased ability to focus on balance and walking.

Types of Urinary Incontinence

There are multiple types of urinary incontinence and they include the following.

Stress incontinence – involuntary leaking of urine when sneezing, coughing, laughing or during exertion

Urge incontinence – involuntary loss of urine with a sense of urgency

Nocturnal enuresis – involuntary loss of urine during sleep

[Learn more about urinary incontinence and its causes]

Any type of urinary incontinence can affect the quality of your life. Many people are too embarrassed to speak with their personal doctor about treatment. This will often cause people to withdraw from social situations and can cause depression, feelings of isolation and falls.

Urinary incontinence is more common than you think. Mayo Clinic Health System estimates as many as 50 percent of women under the age of 65 in the United States experience urinary incontinence and up to 75 percent of women over age 65. For men the percentage is lower at 3-10 percent.

Your personal doctor wants to help you with your symptoms. Try keeping a bladder diary prior to your appointment. This will help you and your doctor determine the best course of treatment based on the history you present. A bladder diary is a simple log of how much you drink, how often you urinate, when you have bladder leakage and what time these things occur. You can download a free bladder diary from Urology Care Foundation.

If you are having a difficult time bringing up the topic with your provider, you can start by saying “I have some questions about bladder control” or “I would like to know some treatment options for bladder issues.”

Remember to follow-up with your provider if the treatment is not giving you the desired results. Sometimes it can take up to three different treatment combinations to achieve symptom resolution.

How to Completely Empty Your Bladder and Prevent Urine Leakage

As you age, your bladder loses the ability to contract which can leave urine in the bladder after you use the bathroom. Try these steps to empty your bladder completely and reduce the chance of leakage.

Sit on the toilet, both men and women
Empty your bladder
Stand up
Sit on the toilet again
Empty your bladder again

Another age-related issue is weakening of the pelvic floor. The pelvic muscles are what support your bladder and bowel in both men and women along with the uterus in women. Weakening of these muscles can lead to urinary incontinence. Strengthening these muscles may help prevent urine leakage and the urge to go. Try this exercise from the Urology Care Foundation.

Imagine yourself in a crowded room and you feel like you need to pass gas. Squeeze the muscles of your anus to prevent the passing of gas. The muscles that you use to stop passing gas are your pelvic floor muscles. Women should feel a pulling in the rectum and vagina. Men will feel the pull of the anus and movement of the penis.

Now that you have located your pelvic floor muscles you can start the exercise. The exercise involves squeezing then relaxing your pelvic floor muscles. Squeeze the muscles for five seconds and then relax the muscles for five seconds. Be sure to take the time to relax between squeezes so that your muscles can rest before squeezing again. Each squeeze and relaxation count as one repetition.

Each set of exercises should include three different positions – 10 repetitions lying down, 10 sitting and 10 standing. Do one set in the morning and one set at night (or at least twice a day). As these get easier, increase the repetitions.

Reducing the need to make urgent trips to the bathroom will help to keep you safer by allowing you to take your time to walk to the bathroom and reduce your chance for a fall. Make bladder health conversations a part of your yearly wellness visit. As we age our bodies change year to year so may your treatment for symptom management.

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