WOMEN'S HEALTH - Incontinence - PHYXIT Physio and Injury Clinic

WOMEN’S HEALTH – Incontinence

06 Nov WOMEN’S HEALTH – Incontinence

This month, our senior physio Nikki is going to be providing some education on female incontinence and pelvic floor strengthening! Today, Nikki is running over some basics of incontinence which you may not be aware of – make sure to keep reading to learn something new today!


Incontinence is a worldwide problem that affects many people of from different walks of life. In particular, urinary incontinence does affect approximately 2x as many women as men. The 2 most common types of urinary incontinence are stress incontinence and urge incontinence, also called overactive bladder (we will be focusing on stress incontinence today). Incontinence is more common than you may think, with 44-55% of females older than 65 experiencing the condition – but, it must be remembered that urinary incontinence is not a normal part of aging, and that it can be treated!!

So what is stress incontinence?

Essentially, stress incontinence involves an involuntary loss of urine which usually occurs during periods of physical exertion such as:

  • Sporting activities
  • Sneezing/coughing
  • Lifting
  • Laughing
  • Pushing and pulling

This type of incontinence is caused by increased pressure from the abdomen on the pelvic floor and although it mainly affects women, it can affect men (particularly if you have had prostate surgery). Stress incontinence in women is often caused by pregnancy, childbirth and menopause as pregnancy and childbirth can stretch and weaken the pelvic floor muscles that support the urethra causing stress incontinence during activities that push down on the bladder.

 

BUT, it isn’t all gloom and doom from here – stress incontinence can be treated through working to strengthen the pelvic muscles so stay tuned to find out how this could potentially help you!