Urinary Incontinence and Coughing
It is estimated that approximately 50-69% of women report an incidence of urine leakage in the last 12 months.
The 3 most common reasons for leakage are:
- Coughing or sneezing
- Exercising
- Strong urge and unable to make it to the bathroom in time
Why does coughing cause leakage?
Reason #1: Pressure
- Coughing increases the overall intra-abdominal pressure essentially squeezing the bladder from the top down. This pressure may be more than the pelvic floor can handle resulting in leakage
Reason #2: The pelvic floor
- The external pelvic floor muscles are our sphincter muscles. They intentionally squeeze to prevent leakage. Just like any other muscle in our body these muscles can get weak over time or too tight resulting in poor sphincter control. These are also the muscles that most commonly get injured during a vaginal delivery. If you sustained a perineal tear during birth, that is a tear through the external pelvic floor muscles. This will increase your risk of urinary and fecal incontinence. Seeing a Pelvic PT can easily address this
Reason #3: Posture
- Next time you cough or sneeze think about your posture. Most people tend to lean forward, but by doing this you are actually increasing pressure on the bladder. If your pelvic floor system is already weakened this is adding additional weight forward increasing your risk of leakage
Reason #4: Weak Core
- Yes believe it or not the core plays a major role in supporting our bladder and maintain good posture. If you have a weak core, diastasis recti or a hernia you may find that you experience more leakage with coughing or exercise activity! We highly recommend seeing a pelvic PT to address this
If you are ready to start the new year without leaking check out our Back to Basics Fully on demand class
Code: Merry for $20 off
- Our OnDemand class includes 12 weeks of workouts + 6-minute daily program
- Our workouts are full body and designed to lay down a strong foundation with intentional core + pelvic floor built into each exercise
- Regular LIVE options included in our program to meet with our incredible team of pelvic physical therapist to ask them questions and join LIVE workout challenges to keep you motivated beyond the 12 weeks!
