When You Leak Just a “Wee” Bit

By Lisa Morrone, PT –

Growing older as a woman has many rewards, but a leaky urine valve is certainly not one of them! Here’s how it often begins: One day you’re bent over, enjoying a full out belly laugh, when suddenly you realize you’ve wet your pants—just a “wee” bit. Over the next weeks or months you become conscious of the fact that whenever you feel a sneeze or a coughing fit coming on, you instinctively squeeze your knees together in a feeble attempt to stay dry. This wetness, which began as a rare incident, can quickly progress to an everyday event.

THE PROBLEM DOWN-UNDER

The plumbing issue you’re dealing with plagues far more women than are accounted for in statistics—basically because most ladies would rather keep their embarrassing “tinkling troubles” to themselves). This sort of urine leakage is known as stress incontinence (physical/mechanical stress, not emotional stress). As you age, the muscular valve which lies between your bladder and your urethra (“urine tube”) can become weakened. In addition, the group of muscles which together make up your “pelvic floor” have a tendency to become deconditioned, stretched out, or unresponsive. So whenever your abdominal muscles contract hard against your bladder, as is the case with sneezing, coughing, laughing, or during heavy lifting, urine gets squeezed out—no matter how hard you cross squeeze your knees together!

GUARD AGAINST URINE LEAKAGE

This unwelcomed wetting problem has many culprits: pregnancy, childbirth, extra padding in your middle, menopause, or it simply may have been caused by a lack of overall strength and conditioning.  If the bottom’s dropped out on your pelvis’ support system; it’s time to spring into action! And I have just the right exercise for you to do. Now, don’t worry, you won’t need to break a sweat here. You needn’t join a gym or buy a yoga mat. This Kegel’s exercise can be performed anytime and anywhere—and nobody needs to know! Here’s how it goes:

1)      Inhale normally and pause.

2)      Tighten up the muscles around your rectum as if you were “holding back the urge to have a bowel movement”.

3)      Maintain that “squeezing contraction” while exhaling.

4)      Continue to breathe in and out for a cycle of 10 breaths while maintaining your tightened bottom. (If you can hold the contraction that long.*)

5)      Repeat 10 times. 3-5 times during the day.

*If you can’t hold the contraction for 10 breath cycles, begin with 10 repetitions of how ever many breath cycles you can perform through—even if it is just one!

If you perform this exercise regularly, you may find you are drier by the end of the week!

Lisa Morrone, PT is a regular Health contributor for Living Better at 50+. A physical therapist, author, professor, and speaker, Lisa is on a mission to help people Get Healthy…for Heaven’s Sake! Visit her on the web at: http://www.lisamorrone.com/. Be sure to sign up to receive Lisa’s Monday Morning Health Tips, delivered right to your inbox!