Recently, actress Kate Winslet was being interviewed on the Graham Norton show. She was talking about how having babies had affected her and specifically her ability to remain continent when sneezing. “I can’t jump on trampolines anymore, I wet myself,” Winslet, 42, said on the show. “It’s awful, especially if you’re wearing a skirt.”
The mother of three attributes her incontinence to childbirth. “When you’ve had a few children you know, it’s just what happens,” she says. “It’s amazing, two sneezes, I’m fine. Three, it’s game over.”
So, is childbirth responsible?
While many people think that incontinence is a condition that only affects the elderly, it can affect men and women of all ages. Urinary incontinence, and in particular Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI), is a significant health problem which can have a considerable impact on an individual’s quality of life.
SUI is defined as the involuntary loss of urine on effort or physical exertion, such as sneezing or coughing. Current evidence indicates that stress incontinence affects 4% to 14% of younger women and 12% to 35% of older women, with a peak incidence in midlife around the time of menopause.
Many women with urinary incontinence do not seek help for their condition. Some women have SUI of a mild nature and do not feel that treatment of the condition is warranted; others are embarrassed to speak with a healthcare provider about their condition or fear that treatment will require surgery.
What if we told you that simple Physiotherapy can help?
Whilst the cause of SUI is often multifactorial and may involve muscle, nerve or sphincter issues… research provides overwhelming support that pelvic floor physiotherapy is effective at reducing SUI. Furthermore, there is widespread recommendation that pelvic floor muscle training should be included in first-line management programmes for women with stress, urge or mixed urinary incontinence.
So if you, like Kate, experience symptoms from ‘’one sneeze too many”, there is help available! The Body Refinery offers women’s health physiotherapy, which involves assessment by specifically-trained, female Women’s Health Physiotherapists, who can then help with the management of stress urinary incontinence.
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Book an appointment with a Women’s Health Physiotherapist today on 07 3358 3915 or at info@thebodyrefinery.com.au
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