Blog Series: Why am I leaking?

Do you leak during exercise or feel the urge to pee even when you think you shouldn't? You’re not alone. Over 60% of pregnant women and nearly 80% of women will experience some form of incontinence during their lifetime. In my profession, we often say this is “common, but not normal,” and as pelvic floor physical therapists, we aim to change this norm for women.

Types of Incontinence

The term for leaking urine is incontinence,

and it comes in different forms.

1. Stress Incontinence

2. Urge Incontinence

3. Mixed Incontinence.

Stress and urge incontinence are quite different.

Stress incontinence is a physical and pressure management issue, while urge incontinence is more of a mental/brain issue.

Stress Incontinence:

A Physical Challenge

Stress incontinence occurs when you put pressure on your pelvic floor muscles, and they struggle to cope with the demands of activities like jumping, running, changing positions, or even walking. We treat stress incontinence through specific exercises that help your pelvic floor adapt to these physical demands. That’s why we have specific exercises and progressions in Muscles and Mamas class!

The best way to start is by seeing a specialist, like your Fitpartum™ team, to assess and evaluate your specific situation. While many women have weakness in their pelvic floor, some also experience tightness, which can also lead to leaking. Both conditions require proper pressure distribution in your core and pelvic floor

Urge Incontinence:

A Brain & Behavioral Challenge

Ever feel a sudden, intense need to pee when you’re driving home and have to rush to the bathroom as soon as you arrive? That’s urge incontinence. It’s your brain sending overactive signals, essentially saying,

“Yes! We’re home, we can pee now!”

The good news is that we can retrain your brain and body to manage this. For urge incontinence, we take a behavioral approach and try to identify triggers.

Do you feel the urge when you get near your house? When running water or doing dishes?

During playtime with kids?

Identifying these triggers is a great place to start!

Managing Mixed Incontinence:

Tips and Techniques

Most women experience a combination of both stress and urge incontinence, known as mixed incontinence.

Here are some tips for managing the urge when it strikes:

1. Stop What You’re Doing

Give yourself and your brain a chance to interrupt

the signal.

2. Breathe and Contract your Pelvic Floor

Take a deep breath in, exhale while performing a pelvic floor lift. This can naturally help to support your bladder.

3. Distract Your Brain

Try saying the ABCs, a simple math fact, or singing a song. Distracting your brain can calm the overactive signal. My favorite technique is to do this for about 15-20 seconds. Scratching your arm or leg sometimes works too!

4. Move Slowly:

Start to walk slowly to the bathroom.

5. Avoid “Just In Case” Peeing

JIC peeing trains your bladder to feel full and

have an urge to pee before it’s actually necessary and actually leads to peeing MORE OFTEN!

Additional Tips for Optimal Bladder Health:

1.Hydrate Well

-Drink plenty of water to dilute urine concentration, reducing irritation. Concentrated urine gives you the feeling of having to pee more often

2. Limit Bladder Irritants

Alcohol, caffeine, and carbonated beverages

can worsen incontinence. Limiting these can help.

3. Don’t Push Out Pee

Allow your bladder and pelvic floor to relax fully to avoid urine retention and the urge to pee shortly after.

Understanding and managing incontinence can significantly improve your quality of life. Stay informed, stay strong, &

take care of your pelvic health!