Do you ever leak when you cough, sneeze, or laugh?

“I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.”

Many of us have said this and some of us literally do pee our pants. It’s embarrassing! The spectrum of how bad it is can vary. It might be a drop or two or you may completely soil yourself. No matter how much you leak, it’s still a problem. Remember the post about how leaking urine isn’t normal? If you haven’t read it yet, check out the blog with the photo of the black lab with the sad face and pink dog diaper.

I see many patients with this exact issue. Guess what? There IS a solution; Pelvic floor strengthening can help!

First of all, if you are leaking urine go see your doctor or primary care physician. Leaking and bladder changes can be a sign of a more serious medical condition. Once those are ruled out then here is your mantra “squeeze before you sneeze.”

“Squeeze before you sneeze.”

When I have a patient that is leaking urine from coughing, sneezing and/or laughing they usually have a weak pelvic floor and/or have poor muscle timing. I’ll talk more about pelvic floor strengthening in a different blog post. Today, I want to talk about pelvic floor timing. You see, when you sneeze, cough, or laugh your pelvic floor muscles should automatically contract to prevent urine leakage. When you have poor timing they stop doing this, don’t do it enough or do the opposite and push out. Poor timing leads to leaking. To improve the timing I teach patients to contract their pelvic floor muscles before and during coughing, sneezing and/or laughing. This helps retrain the muscles to do what they are supposed to do. Sometimes patients will come back and say that they squeezed before they sneezed but they still leaked. Oh no! Don’t worry because this is common. Just like improving most habits, it takes time. With time and continued training they are able to improve their strength and timing to reduce leakage and eventually stop the leakage. This leads to more laughter and joy. Leaking when you laugh keeps you from hanging out with friends and enjoying a good time. A family member of mine used to say “you have to have a laugh in life.” Some of you may not be laughing because you don’t want to leak and ultimately reducing the amount of joy you could be having.

These are some of the suggestions I give my patients. I’m able to provide specific guidance when I work one on one with patients. If you leak urine when you cough, sneeze or laugh I’d recommend working with a professional such as a pelvic physical therapist.

In the meantime remember the mantra “Squeeze before you sneeze.”

For more information regarding pelvic health and pelvic floor strengthening please join Women’s Core PT Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenscorept/.