Advice & Support
for
Understanding Incontinence

Common Causes

Coughing, laughing with friends, squats at the gym. Just the thought of it can be enough to make you clench your pelvic floor. If you’re a woman over 30, one in three of you will experience little leaks. However, there are some stages in our life where they are more likely to occur.
Published by Jane Granger
Common Causes

 

Pregnancy


In the early stages of pregnancy, before the fetus is big enough to put pressure on your bladder your body undergoes a hormonal change that weakens your muscles and affects the tone of your perineum. From this point on in pregnancy, many women need to go to the toilet more often.

As the baby grows, the growing uterus puts greater pressure on the bladder, creating that frequent ‘need to go’ sensation. There is also increased blood flow during pregnancy, making the kidneys work more efficiently and produce more urine, which also means more frequent toilet breaks. On top of this you’re also likely to experience your baby kicking the bladder, which doesn’t help either!

With all of this going on inside you, it’s no surprise any extra exertion on the body, like a squat, might cause a little dribble every now and then. It’s totally normal during this time and one of the reasons we’ve designed Lights By TENA. They’re as light as a feminine care liner and more absorbent, specifically designed for Little leaks.

After pregnancy your hormone level will go back to normal, however the muscles surrounding your bladder have been through quite a bit of stress. The best option for a smooth recovery is to do Pelvic Floor Exercises during and after your pregnancy. You can ask your midwife or doctor about the best options for you.

 

After Childbirth


Despite popular belief, it’s not just those who give birth naturally that have a weakened pelvic floor post birth. It can happen regardless of your birthing experience. Natural or Caesarean. As well as a stretched pelvic floor, you’ll have a whole lot of extra fluid to get rid of. Some of this will come out naturally through ‘after birth’. Our sister brand Libra, has great Maternity pads you can use post birth for this. However, this combined with stretched pelvic floor will generally make you want to go to the toilet a whole lot more! Pelvic floor exercises are the best option to strengthen these muscles again. We know you’ll be busy, but trust us they can be done at any time and no one will even know you’re doing them. Until then, we’ve designed our Lights by TENA range of light liners for any little ‘oops’ moments you may have.

 

Menopause


As you get older and wiser, you may start to experience little leaks. This is a side effect of many women during menopause. Our pelvic floor muscles begin to degenerate when there is not a healthy quantity of estrogen stimulating them. During menopause there is a reduction in the quantity of estrogen in the genital and lower urinary tract area, which causes the pelvic floor muscles to become drier, thinner and less elastic. Overall weaker.

But this is the last thing you want to worry about, so we’ve created Lights By TENA so you don’t have to. They lock away moisture and odour, so that you can shrug of those little leaks and get on with your day.

 



Asaleo Care makes no warranties or representations regarding the completeness or accuracy of the information. This information should be used only as a guide and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional, medical or other health professional advice.