By NICOLE MADIGAN
What do pregnancy, heavy lifting, child birth and gymnastics have in common?
Aside from being uncomfortable, they can all cause Light Bladder Leakage (LBL). In other words, an unexpected (and unwanted) leak. From your bladder. You cough, laugh, run or jump and oops, out it comes, without warning, without control. And with it comes a myriad of emotions.
But while it can be scary at first, according to experts, it can have a positive ending. With the help of continence nurse consultant Merrill McPhee, we bring you the eight emotional stages of LBL.
Just as an FYI, you should know that this series of posts is sponsored by Carefree. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.
1. OMG I just wet my pants.
Otherwise known as the discovery phase. Perhaps you’ve just had a baby. Or done some seriously heavy lifting. You’re going about your day until suddenly, it’s not the baby that needs changing, it’s you.
2. Why? Why did I just wet my pants?
Sneezing will require more than just a tissue for your nose and it’s not unusual to find a spare pair of undies in your handbag.
3. Sometimes there’s anxiety.
Jumping on a trampoline with the kids brings a whole new level of anxiety as you wonder if you’ll jump that one jump too many.
4. Extra organisation is needed.
Family road trips require careful planning and plenty of pit stops to change the baby. And yourself.
5. Going to the movies is different now.
You skip the frozen coke when you go to the movies. And avoid comedies at all costs.
6. Acceptance.
You immediately sit down when coughing, and if someone cracks a joke you scan the room for the nearest toilet.
7. A new kind of normal.
You frequently sit with your legs crossed. You’ve perfected a walk/run technique where your feet move but your legs stay together as you make your way to the nearest bathroom. All while smiling as though everything is perfectly normal. Because it kind of is.
8. Phew, there are panty liners made for this specific reason.
It’s a relief for women to discover they don’t need to stuff their undies full of tissues. There are products made specifically to cater for those with LBL which are both discreet and effective.
Can you relate to any of these? Do you have any emotional stages to add?
New Carefree Plus liners for Light Bladder Leakage absorb more fluid than period liners† but are still thin and discreet so you can stay comfy and dry all day, every day.For a free sample, head to becarefree.com.au/plus
®Registered Trademark Johnson &Johnson †Compared to Carefree Original Liners
Top Comments
I too am a women's health physio and agree with Briony - it is this type of one -sided article which continues to normalise what is a major problem for a large number of women. But when a post is sponsored by a pad company what else can you expect? Perhaps show both sides of the story please, being that roughly 80% of cases can be cured by physiotherapy intervention. The small percentage that can't be ( and these are due to failure of the fascial support tissue which no amount of exercising will help) will usually do well with surgery but surgery will fail if the support structure of the pelvic floor is weak , hence we are back to trialling conservative treatment first it is the accepted first line treatment - see recent guidelines by the American College of Physicians. Cost of pads far outweighs the cost of seeing a qualified women's health physio- if you are concerned about that ,most public hospitals have excellent WH physios on staff . You can also speak to the continence foundation and there is the website https://www.pelvicfloorexer... which are both available to you wherever you live.
Pads may work now , but the problem is never going to improve by 'padding up' . It is a sign of pelvic floor dysfunction which will only worsen with the effects of ageing ( loss of muscle tone ) and hormonal changes (loss of oestrogen causes loss of elasticity)
Please don't just accept it.
here here!
Unfortunately some of the highest prevalence of urinary leakage is found in elite athletes including gymnasts as there is much more stress on the pelvic floor. I agree with all of your comments and I advocate wearing liners/pads but not as the sole treatment. I sympathise that not everyone has a complete resolution of their leakage with pelvic floor exercises but in my honest opinion most people have quite a good improvement. Yes cost is always an issue, my advice would be to ring around and compare prices. Otherwise, get online to the Continence Foundation of Australia, they have great information and a free helpline.
pelvic floor first has excellent resources!