Avoid embarrassing leaks!
Prone to embarrassing leaks when you laugh, cough, sneeze or exercise? You’re not alone: One in three of us are in the same boat right now— or will be down the road. Luckily, doctors now know how you can safely beat stress incontinence.
Tone bladder muscles with yoga!
A weak pelvic floor is the numberone culprit behind a leaky bladder, and yoga is one of the best ways to strengthen those lax muscles. The proof: Women who took a yoga-therapy program for six weeks saw a 70% decrease in incontinence frequency! “Many aspects to yoga can be beneficial for stress incontinence, but not all yoga is created equal,” says Lauren Streicher, M.D., of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine in Menopause. It comes down to how well a specific technique targets your core and your pelvic floor. Try following a DVD, such as Pelvic Yoga with Kimberlee Bethany Bonura ($19, Amazon.com), which walks you through the best steps for tightening the muscles that stop leaks.
Add support with a simple innovation!
Impressa, a new disposable OTC device is painless, and proven to prevent leakage for 92% of women with stress incontinence. Inserted like a tampon, it gently presses against your urethra, offering your bladder just enough extra support. “It’s especially great for women who only have incontinence issues when doing things like high-impact exercise,” says Dr. Streicher.
Pare pressure by dropping a few pounds!
Extra weight strains your pelvicfloor muscles so much that dropping a few pounds can make a huge difference. In one study, 75% of women who lost 5% to 10% of their weight saw a significant decrease in urine leakage!
Time your bathroom breaks!
“Many women are so worried about incontinence, they drink almost nothing all day, and then they get dehydrated,” says Dr. Streicher. Dehydration, in turn, can concentrate salts in your urine, irritating the bladder and worsening incontinence! Instead of drinking less, prevent accidental leaks by regularly emptying your bladder before and after meals, at bedtime and first thing in the morning— and at set times during the rest of your day— even if you don’t feel as if you have to go. If your incontinence symptoms don’t improve after working with a physician, see a urogynecologist, who can help devise a non-surgical treatment plan or recommend a safe surgical procedure to eliminate the problem for good “They’re gynecologists who’ve had years of additional specialist training in urology,” explains Dr. Streicher.
—Kallie E. Kristensen
Seeing a special specialist!