LONDON, June 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Research reveals 9% of women have 'accidents' daily, and 34% at least weekly* - that's more than the average toddler (By comparison, 3% of men experience this once in up to a year.) 60% of women who have given birth report a weakened pelvic floor and/or incontinence.
Despite this, 32% of womenhave never exercised their pelvic floor (an activity with known benefits for those suffering bladder leaks). And though 11.7 millionwomen experience bladder leaks at least once weekly** few discuss it for fear of ridicule; so women's intimate health brand INTIMINA has partnered with Stopcocks, the UK's national company of women plumbers to tackle taboos during World Continence Week (17-23 June).
During this time Stopcocks Women Plumbers will be fixing household leaks, having honest conversations about incontinence, and gifting customers INTIMINA's pelvic floor training device - KegelSmart 2.
Hattie Hasan MBE, Stopcocks Founder adds: "We deal with women's leaks daily, because our customers feel more comfortable dealing with other women. This is the first time a team of plumbers will be equipped with the advice and devices to fix and prevent future leaks in the pelvic floor, woman-to-woman. We are proud to partner with INTIMINA and help shift the dial on pelvic floor health".
INTIMINA'S Gynaecology Expert, Dr Susanna Unsworth, shared five common pelvic floor mistakes:
- Stopping 'mid-flow' - once seen as a way of testing your pelvic floor and even recommended to exercise the pelvic floor muscles, this can cause issues: when you pass urine, the muscle of the bladder contracts and the pelvic floor muscles relax. If you contract your pelvic floor midstream this can result in the bladder relaxing assuming it has emptied. Done regularly it can lead to dysfunction of the bladder and contribute to ongoing problems such as urgency and overactive bladder.
- 'Just-in-case' wees -Whilst ok to do occasionally, repeated contraction of the bladder when it is not full 'teaches' the bladder to empty small volumes. This can lead to feeling an urgent need to pass urine even when the bladder is only partly full, resulting in more frequent toilet trips and more chance of incontinence if you cannot find a loo.
- "Hovering"- women can often be faced with a very uninviting public loos. This often results in tensing and hovering over the seat, rather than sitting on it. This can lead to contraction of the core muscles, including the pelvic floor; the opposite of what we want to happen when passing urine. This may lead on to us needing to contract our bladder more aggressively to allow ourselves to pee, and can contribute to an overactive bladder but also incomplete entities acting in the bladder increasing the chance of UTIs.
- "Power wees"- there are two main elements to passing urine: contraction of the bladder, and relaxation of the pelvic floor. Neither requires excessive force, and if we overstrain the balance between them can be disrupted. Blowing your nose or forcing a 'power wee' whilst trying to pass urine can influence these contractions and relaxation and lead to dysfunctional bladder symptoms. The bladder usually only needs light contraction to allow it to empty. As with all these things, occasional occurrence is not going to cause a major issue, but do not make it a habit.
- Sitting on the toilet too long -something I've been guilty of as a parent - sometimes the only place to get some peace is the toilet! But sitting on the toilet too long it can lead to our pelvic floor staying relaxed for too long. Longer term, this can lead to pelvic floor dysfunction. Allow 15-30 seconds after finishing to make sure your bladder has fully emptied, but then get up. (You can still hide in the bathroom if you need the time out, but standing allows your pelvic floor to regain its usual level of tension!)
Notes to editors:
* Survey of 2,020 UK respondents by CensusWide
** If total number of UK women 18+ is 34,492,000 (ONS)
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