Adults and bed-wetting

Many believe that bed-wetting only occurs with children. But wetting the bed is something that both adults and children do. An estimated 1% of adults wet the bed. The treatment of bed-wetting consists of, among other things, a pee alarm, a dry bed course and special adult diapers for adults.

Bed-wetting

Wetting the bed is an unpleasant condition. Bed-wetters release urine in an uncontrolled manner during their sleep. Bed-wetting, however, is not the same as incontinence. People with incontinence also release urine in an uncontrolled manner, but not just at night. Bed-wetters only suffer from undesired urine loss during the night.

A lot of people believe that bed-wetting is typical in young children but adults can also suffer from it. An estimated 1% of adults wet their bed. There are slightly more men that suffer from it than women. Some bed-wetters wet their bed every night, whilst others only wet their bed every once in a while.

Cause of bed-wetting

Bed-wetting in adults is usually caused by a hormonal problem. ADH (antidiuretic hormone) is a hormone that sends the brain a signal that the bladder is full. In people who wet their bed this hormone is not, or less, active during their sleep. Therefore they don’t receive the signal that their bladder is full in time so they wet their bed.

The bladder capacity of people who wet their bed and people who don't is almost the same. So bed-wetters don't have a smaller bladder that causes them to wet their beds quicker. In some women the bed-wetting is caused by a recurrent urinary tract infection.

Treatment of bed-wetting

There are several ways to treat bed-wetting. Many people feel embarrassed that they wet their beds and don’t seek help because of it. Bed-wetting occurs in 1% of adults, so you are not the only one.

Dry bed course

The dry bed course focuses on people 12 years and older who wet their beds and want to stop taking medicine for bed-wetting. It is a group course. The participants stay in a clinic for a few nights to change the sleeping pattern so that they will wake up when the bladder sends a signal that it’s full.

Pee alarm

The pee alarm is a device that can be placed on a mattress or in underwear. As soon as the pee alarm gets in contact with moisture the alarm goes off and wakes up the person as soon as they pee.

Medication

There is medication that makes you wet your bed less often. However, this medication doesn’t treat the cause of bed-wetting. Therefore it's wise to check the physical causes before taking medication.

Diapers

Diapers don’t treat the problem either but using them will make you get out of bed less times during the night. There are specials diapers for adults, but they are usually quite expensive and not every insurance company covers these. Incontinence diapers can be a good alternative for these expensive diapers.

Sources: www.todio.nl