Stress incontinence
Stress incontinence is when you accidentally pee following sneezing, jumping, etc.
Tips
Pelvic floor exercises
This is so boring, but it is the best and cheapest option if you tend to leak pee when sneezing or jumping. It’s really important to make sure that you are doing the exercises right (when I went to the gynaecology physio she told me I had been doing them completely wrong, as I was pushing down not up, and was actually making the problem worse).
The advice that I was given by my GP is to imagine you are pulling together the strings of a purse, then lift up. Repeat x 30 – every day.
Another tip is to imagine your pelvic floor is a lift – squeeze to shut the doors, go up to the first floor, squeeze again to let some people in, repeat to go up to the fourth floor, then go back down again.
Or, try reading The Pelvic Floor Bible by Jane Simpson. She recommends the following to try to locate the right muscles to exercise: Sit on a flat surface, with your feet flat on the ground. Lean forward slightly, so your vulva is in contact with the surface. Put your hands on your thighs and try to lift the area around your vagina and anus away from what you are sitting on.
She recommends squeezing, lifting and holding for a count of 5, done three times a day. Plus, 10 short, sharp contractions each day. If your pelvic floor is weak, you might only be able to do a few contractions to start with, and then build up as your muscles get stronger.
To make sure you are doing the exercises every day, try downloading an App like Squeezy, which has been specially developed by NHS physiotherapists. It shows you how to do the exercises properly, and reminds you to do them too.
If you are still worried that you don’t know what you are doing, try to get a referral to a specialist physiotherapist.
Kegel balls
You might want to try kegel balls to help strengthen your pelvic floor. I think these did work – my pelvic muscles definitely got stronger, and I found it easier to do my pelvic floor exercises after I had used these for a month. But after a while I started to get worried that they were doing more harm than good, so I stopped using them. Would definitely recommend them to get you on track, and they are really easy to use.
Elvie trainer and app
This is quite an expensive option, but has great reviews. The Elvie trainer is a Kegel trainer which gives you biofeedback through the app to make sure that you are doing your pelvic floor exercises correctly. If you can’t get to see a physio, and are worried that you aren’t doing the exercises properly, then this might be the option for you.
Squats and swimming
Doing squats and swimming breaststroke can strengthen the muscles around your pelvic floor and help to support it.
Things to avoid
In The Pelvic Floor Bible, Jane Simpson advises that the following can make a weak pelvic floor worse:
- Lifting heavy weights
- Being constipated and straining on the loo
- Being overweight
- Lots of coughing
- High impact exercise
To try to minimise these, why not check out our tips for constipation here, and our tips for losing weight here. To protect your pelvic floor during high impact exercise, Jane Simpson suggests inserting a tampon, Mooncup or vaginal pessary, to provide support, but you may want to pass on this if you feel you may have a prolapse.