Those whoops-a-daisy moments

Ever leaked urine accidentally when coughing, sneezing or even going for a run? Maybe this burning desire to pee rushes up on you and you struggle to get to the toilet on time? These experiences are more common than you think – 42% of women will suffer with leakage at some point in their lives and only 25% seek help!

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) happens when we do things that increase the pressure in our abdomen, like coughing, sneezing, laughing, running and jumping. We know that pregnancy/childbirth, constipation, age and obesity are risk factors for getting SUI as all these affect the strength of our pelvic floor muscles (the ones that support all your pelvic organs e.g.: bladder/bowel/uterus).

Urge urinary incontinence (UUI) is when you have an urgent desire to pee (known as urgency) and sometimes you leak before you get to the toilet (UUI). This can happy for a number of reasons, for example abnormal bladder contractions (overactive bladder), bladder irritation or even just a poorly supported bladder.

Leaking urine can be embarrassing and annoying, but is not something you have to put up with! So many ladies hope and pray it will just go away if they ignore it, but unfortunately that’s not the case. With it’s direct links with depression, urine infections, anxiety and ultimately quality of life, its really important we speak up and get help. Women’s Health Physiotherapists are trained to help ladies optimise their pelvic floor muscles and retrain the bladder if needed – so what are you waiting for? Ask your GP to refer you to your local Women’s Health Physiotherapy service and keep your eye out for my future posts on self-help techniques to try at home!