This month, you will learn about another common condition that affects millions of women.
Do you cross your legs in anticipation of sneezing?
Do you wear a pad or pantyliner when you are sick and have a cough?
Did you have to give up jumping on trampolines with your kids?
Well, if any of these situations sound familiar, you might be suffering from Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI).
What is SUI?
It is a leakage of urine associated with physical activities like coughing, sneezing, laughing, or lifting anything heavy. Some women experience loss of only a small amount of urine while some lose a large volume.
Why is it important to recognize this condition?
Because treatments that can improve the quality of your life are available.
Why does SUI happen? SUI happens when the urethra, the tube that drains the bladder to outside world, loses its support and can’t prevent urine from leaking from the bladder. As a result, when abdominal pressure increases with coughing, heavy lifting or any activity that feels like a sit up, urine comes out.
What causes SUI? The most common reason why SUI develops is due to trauma to pelvic floor muscles and ligaments. One of the major causes is giving birth vaginally because it weakens the support of the urethra. Women who have not given birth but experience SUI likely suffer from chronic constipation that predisposes their pelvic floor to chronic and prolonged increased pelvic pressure that eventually damages the urethral support. Other women might have a connective tissue disorder that makes them and the ligaments supporting the urethra very flexible. Another reason is pelvic floor dysfunction, a condition that develops if the pelvic floor muscles are too weak or too overstretched and not functioning properly.
SUI steals a women’s life one activity at the time. You do not have to settle for this—you can improve your quality of life and live the life you deserve. Learn about simple ways to control SUI and live your life to the fullest in my next posts.
#blaadderhealth #bladderleaks #SUI #pelvicfloor #urogynecology
