We have all been there before, laughing at a funny joke, jogging, or bending down to pick up something off the floor and feeling that warm liquid drip down our legs. It’s that moment where we say to ourselves,” WTF!” If it happens at home, it’s a bit easier to manage and put to the back of our minds. While other times it can happen at a cocktail party or while out with girlfriends. And even worse was when it was during a passionate love making session when it happened as the perfect orgasm was just about to happen.
Problems related to your bladder and loss of urine is as taboo as talking about any other issue related to the vagina. If you are on social media, you can see the new tidal wave of conversations and information around menopause and embracing healthy aging for women. But the problem remains, we are just not talking enough about it. Let’s face it talking about losing urine is embarrassing and no one really wants to admit that it’s happening to them and certainly not to extent where wearing sanitary pads are part of their daily wardrobe.
So, who is peeing in their pants? Raise your hands? I for one have my hand raised!
You are not alone since 20 million women have urinary incontinence. Another 27 million feel the need to urinate with increasing urgency and frequency
The American Academy of Physicians (AAP) found that 50% of women between the gas of 40 to 60y and almost 75% of women over the age of 75 suffer from loss of urine. It’s thought these statistics low ball the true numbers since urinary incontinence is “underreported”. In fact, the AAP also found that 50% of women who suffer from incontinence do not report these humiliating symptoms to their doctors. And to no one’s surprise, stress incontinence affects twice as many women as it does men.
Loss of urine also known as incontinence can be classified as stress or urge incontinence.
Urinary incontinence occurs when you actually lose urine. The term “stress” incontinence happens during coughing, sneezing, laughing, exercising, lifting anything heavy, walking, standing up, getting out of the car or having sex. Any activity that increases abdominal pressure can bring about stress incontinence especially if your bladder is full. The tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body is called the urethra which can weaken over time and with common life trauma.
When a woman experiences stress incontinence it makes her feel embarrassed and isolated, often limiting activities that brings on exercises or typical daily activities. Personal distress can be overwhelming for women affecting social activities and sexual intimacy. Women suffering with urinary often have to wear pads and diapers which is not only humiliating but also causes a perpetual “diaper rash” on the vulva of the vagina.
Stress incontinence occurs when the pelvic floor muscles have been weakened during child birth, obesity, chronic coughing, sneezing, lifting, constipation and high impact exercises over time. The aging process, vaginal deliveries, obesity and women undergoing hysterectomies are more prone to stress incontinence. You can even inherit urinary incontinence from Aunt Selma!
“Urge” incontinence is when you lose urine unintentionally unrelated to an activity you may be doing. Stress and urge incontinence can occur together for a group of unlucky women. Urge incontinence often occurs as a result of an overactive bladder muscle, called the detrusor muscle, which controls the bladder.
Certain lifestyle habits make stress continence worse and include:
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Soda
- Chocolate
- Artificial Sweeteners
- Cigarette smoking
- Obesity
- Urinary Tract Infections
- Complications of Diabetes
- Medications causing frequent or excessive urine production