Mindfulness May Help Prevent Incontinence
A new study from the University of Pittsburgh sheds light on “latchkey incontinence”— a form of situational urinary urgency triggered by environmental cues like seeing one’s front door or hearing running water. Researchers found that mindfulness training, noninvasive brain stimulation, or a combination of both could help reduce both bladder leaks and urgency triggered by these cues.
In latchkey incontinence, the brain becomes conditioned to associate certain cues with the need to urinate. Brain scans in 61 women over age 40 with situational incontinence showed heightened activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the brain’s “executive center,” when participants viewed their personal bladder-trigger images.
The participants were then divided into three groups. Each received one or both of two interventions: a 20-minute mindfulness body scan focused on bladder awareness or transcranial direct current stimulation while viewing images that triggered urgency. After just four sessions over up to six days, all participants reported decreased symptoms of incontinence, including fewer leaks, reduced urgency, and better control — results similar to those obtained from medications and pelvic floor therapy.
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