I just gave a talk to a group of about 75 women at midlife. When I asked for a show of hands for how many women experience urine leaking with a cough, sneeze or laugh, about 1/2 raised their hands.
Yes, about a third to a half of us are having a little pee pee problem. Fear not! There’s an App for that now too!
Strengthening the pelvic floor means you’ll be less like to deal with this possibility.
When I ask my patients to do a Kegel or to try to squeeze their pelvic floor muscles during an exam, it’s clear that only about 1/2 are able to isolate and squeeze the right muscles. Many use their abdominal muscles, many push out and many simply don’t have the sensation. Once we work on how to do the exercises and get women started practicing, most report that their lives have changed, for the better because they aren’t leaking at all or nearly as much.
We’re all busy, so here’s some options to help you stay dry and a surprising option at the end.
At home Kegels! There’s an App for that
For women who want to work on their pelvic floor muscles in the privacy of their own home, here’s a few new options:
Discreet vaginal inserts
Lightweight, small, discreet vaginal inserts that use Bluetooth technology connected to your smartphone so you can see if you’re doing your Kegels correctly. (more…)
Did you know that one out of every four women will experience some form of pelvic health issue – bleeding, urinary incontinence or pelvic pain? This number actually doubles as women age!
Pelvic pain and incontinence frequently are suffered in silence, due to embarrassment. But an entire medical discipline devoted to these conditions is making significant inroads in the treatment of the painful conditions that fall under the topic of “pelvic health.” Women can now exchange embarrassment for empowerment.
In this edition of Nurse Barb’s Daily Dose, Barb speaks with the pelvic health experts: Drs. Sari Levine and Katherine Sutherland and physical therapist Meenal Mujumdar. Together, they address some of the misconceptions that keep women from seeking treatment for pelvic pain or incontinence problems and explain the advances in treatments that are worth considering.
Topics Covered Include:
You can download my Menopause Guide here.
