Potty Talk – Afraid to laugh or cough? Let’s talk Incontinence
May 09, 2022Photo by Patchanu Noree from Burst
Incontinence is any unwanted loss of urine at any time and any amount. So, if you are not sitting on the toilet, wanting to go pee and urine comes out of you, that would be termed "incontinence."
Urine is stored in the bladder, and our bladder signals our brain that it needs to empty, and we then go to the washroom. What should happen when we sit down on the toilet is our pelvic floor muscles should relax, and our bladder should contract to empty. 150 mil is usually when you get your first signal – a gentle hint that you may want to start thinking about a bathroom in the next hour or so.
It continues to fill and will signal strongly between 200-300 mls. With a truly full bladder, the stream should be steady for about 10 to 15 seconds. Anything less than that, it's probably not full, or it's not emptying properly.
Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)
If you're laughing, coughing, sneezing, running, exercising, jumping, or doing any sort of exertion where a little bit of urine leaks out, that is stress urinary incontinence and is typically due to a lack of synergy between the pelvic floor, the bladder, and managing intra- abdominal pressure. The pelvic floor muscles must contract 200 milliseconds before an increase in intra-abdominal pressure in order to maintain continence. Stress urinary incontinence is when there is not enough tone to close off the sphincter and/or the sphincter doesn’t close in time, and therefore a little bit of urine leaks out.
Urge Urinary Incontinence (UUI)
Urge urinary incontinence is when all of a sudden you feel an overwhelming urge to urinate and may not make it to the bathroom in time, which can result in a bit of urine leaking out or a complete release of your bladder. This can happen even if the bladder is not full. Urgency occurs when there's too much activity in the muscle, and it's signaling the brain to empty more often than it should. The bladder is a muscle that can be trained and oftentimes it starts to signal more often because of habits or behaviors.
Mixed Urinary Incontinence (MUI) would be a combination of the SUI and UUI.
Stress Urinary Incontinence Study - Participants needed!
A few months ago, I was approached by a Urologist who wanted to include my Buff Muff Challenge in a research study. I jumped at the chance, and we are now recruiting people to take part. I would love to have some members of my community take part, and we are looking for people who have stress urinary incontinence and are wanting a solution.
The Buff Muff Challenge requires about 10-15 minutes a day. Here are the details...
Urologist Dr. Jenn Locke is actively seeking participants for her Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) and Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy study. The purpose of this research study is to understand the role of virtual and app-based methods in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence.
This study involves the completion of a series of questionnaires prior to and following the completion of the Buff Muff Challenge. This is estimated to take approximately 1 hour of your time total. If you are 19 years of age or older, diagnosed with SUI and have not yet begun the Buff Muff Challenge or App, you are eligible to be a participant.
If you are interested in participating, please email Dr. Locke and her research team with your contact information at [email protected]
Please note there is no financial compensation or subsidies for participation in this research study. We thank you for your time and consideration.
The 28-Day Challenge and Buff Muff Membership
I recommend checking out my comprehensive pelvic health education and fitness programs on my Buff Muff App. The most complete Pelvic Floor & Kegel exercise App to strengthen the pelvic floor.
The Buff Muff 28-Day Challenge (housed in the App) gets you started, and the Annual membership keeps you progressing so you can laugh, run, jump, and lift without the pesky leaks and annoying discomfort of prolapse symptoms.
