People don't like to talk about their bodies very much, especially about their bathroom habits. It's private, certainly. But if there is an issue we cannot even speak about to our doctors, sometimes we suffer in that silence unnecessarily. If you suffer from urinary or fecal incontinence that you have not yet mentioned to your doctor, you are certainly not alone.

Maybe it would help to read about it on the web first. Knowing about it and hearing what can be done might reassure you enough to gather the courage to say something to your physician. You could start with AboutIncontinence.org. There you will find articles and research that may help you. Did you know there was a study of fecal incontinence that found "prevalence ranges from an estimated 2.2% to 6.9% of the general population. In the United States alone that's 5.5 to 17 million people."

There is a list of possible causes of incontinence. Some of them are serious and should be treated as soon as you can. That alone is a good reason to come out to your doctor about the problem. Remember, they will be keeping this information in confidence for you. They want to help you and it is their job to hear about embarrassing physical ailments. Most doctors have a very good bedside manner that allows them to hear these things. And judging from the prevalence of these conditions, it's a pretty good bet they have heard this before. You won't shock them. They will only want to find out the best way to help you.

Think about it. It may be possible to heal this situation, relax about it and live a normal life. You can decide what you want to do, but isn't it worth taking that small risk? Think about calling your doctor today.