Urinary Incontinence

40% of Australian women experience urinary incontinence, but often they don’t seek help

It is common, but not normal!

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary loss or leakage of urine. It can often be referred to as poor bladder control. It can be quite embarrassing to experience urine leakage or may leave you feeling anxious when leaving the house.

Urinary incontinence can be associated with:

• Pregnancy

• Childbirth

• Menopause

• Chronic Health Conditions

A common misconception about urinary incontinence is that women only experience leakage after pregnancy or childbirth. This is not true - any women can experience urinary incontinence! Studies have shown that in young female elite athletes (who have never been pregnant) that incidence of urinary incontinence can range from 28-52%

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Types of Urinary Incontinence

• Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) is any involuntary loss of urine during strain, effort or exertion. This is more common, it may occur with a cough, sneeze, jump or laugh

• Urge Urinary Incontinence (UUI) is the sudden uncontrollable desire to have to urinate that you cannot defer, that results in a leak of urine

• Overactive Bladder Syndrome (OAB) is urinary urgency and frequency with a sudden desire to pass urine, that may occur with or without urinary incontinence. OAB differs from UUI as sudden compelling urges are involuntary spasms of the bladder wall as the bladder is filling, which is not normal

• Functional Incontinence is urine leakage due to medications or health conditions that make it difficult to reach the toilet in time

• Incontinence associated with chronic retention is an inability for the bladder to empty properly and urine leakage occurs frequently in small amount

Really important to keep in mind that women can have more than one type of incontinence 

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Treatment of Urinary Incontinence

There are many different causes and types of urinary incontinence, and targeted physiotherapy by a Women’s Health Physiotherapist is highly effective

You may be encouraged to try:

1. Pelvic floor exercises

2. Learning how to perform The Knack for SUI

3. Modifying activities that increase leakage

4. Use supportive devices such as pessaries

5. Lose weight to reduce excessive pressure on the pelvic floor muscles

6. Improve bowel health to reduce straining on the toilet

7. Focus on bladder retraining

8. Implement breathing techniques in UUI