about stress incontinence

ladies and gents, if you sneeze, cough or do exercises and leak urine by doing this then there is a chance that you may of developed something called stress incontinence.

Below is our guide to stress incontinence -

What is stress incontinence?

Stress incontinence is when urine leaks because there is a sudden extra pressure ('stress') on the bladder. This is because your pelvic floor muscles and urethra cannot withstand the extra pressure.

stress incontinence develops because the pelvic floor muscles are weakened. Small amounts of urine may leak, but sometimes it can be quite a lot and can cause embarrassment. Urine tends to leak most when you cough, laugh, or when you exercise (like when you jump or run). In these situations there is sudden extra pressure within the abdomen and on the bladder.
How common is stress incontinence?

Stress incontinence is the most common form of urinary incontinence. It is estimated that about three million people in the UK are regularly incontinent. Overall this is about 4 in 100 adults, and well over half of these are due to stress incontinence. Stress incontinence becomes more common in older women and as many as 1 in 5 women over the age of 40 have some degree of stress incontinence.


Most cases of stress incontinence are due to weakened pelvic floor muscles. The common reason for the pelvic floor muscles to become weakened is childbirth. The pelvic floor muscles are a group of muscles that wrap around the underside of the bladder and rectum. Stress incontinence is common in women who have had children. It is also more common with increasing age as the muscles become weaker, particularly after the menopause.

Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles - 'pelvic floor exercises'

It is important that you exercise the correct muscles. Your doctor may refer you to a continence advisor or physiotherapist for advice on the exercises.

Sometimes a continence advisor or physiotherapist will advise extra methods if you are having problems performing the pelvic floor exercises. These are in addition to the above exercises. For example:

Electrical stimulation.
Biofeedback.
Vaginal cones.
Other devices. There are various other devices that are sold to help with pelvic floor exercises. Basically, they all rely on placing the device inside the vagina with the aim of helping the pelvic muscles to exercise and squeeze.

Surgery
Various surgical operations are used to treat stress incontinence. They tend only to be used when the pelvic floor muscle exercises have not helped.