Sign 8: Changes in Bowel or Bladder Habits
While urinary incontinence and bowel issues affect many seniors due to pelvic floor weakness or prostate enlargement, sudden changes in your bathroom habits can signal a medical emergency. Severe spinal stenosis can compress the cauda equina, a bundle of nerves at the very end of your spinal cord that controls your pelvic organs. If you develop new-onset incontinence alongside lower back pain or saddle numbness, you must bypass the excuses of aging and seek immediate emergency care to prevent permanent paralysis.
