Does my diaper make my butt look big?

A lot of factors of normal aging are obvious when you know someone who is over 65. You can see the whitening of their hair, the loosening and bruising of their skin and perhaps notice they can't hear or see as clearly as you can. I wasn't surprised to learn about the decline in the five senses or in bone density, muscle mass, and organ systems. I was surprised to learn that incontinence was NOT a normal part of aging.

Since incontinence issues are so common among older adults I figured that it was the norm. At Rose Manor, there's not one patient in there that does not wear Depends, even if they are able to get up and go to the bathroom independently. My grandparents don't wear depends (that I know of) but I do know they have issues going to the bathroom sometimes. At night my grandma grabs herself a good book and says "I'm going to sit on the pot" and she'll be gone for 30 mins. I just figured that since the metabolism gets slower as you age, it is just harder to regulate and control the bowel and bladder.

To me, all of the other normal parts of aging were obvious. However, incontinence is prevalent among elders but it's not a normal part of aging. I'm relieved to hear that because wearing Depends and relying on someone to change you does not look appealing. I'm definitely going to be an advocate for strengthening the pelvic floor muscles and making sure that people are aware about what is NOT a normal part of aging.

This video helps explain more on how to prevent incontinence and educate people on ways to control bowel and bladder issues.