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Stop stress urinary incontinence

Muscles, fascia and ligaments, keep you pelvic organs suspended in the “right” place, to prevent leaks. The “right” underwear can do the same thing from the outside.

You feel it coming………… a gigantic sneeze.  Your first instinct, to suppress it.  This fails.  It is coming, it’s coming.  Hatchoo !

Oh dear, there has been a dribble.

Or maybe you’re in your zumba class, wiggling your tush to the rhythm……… suddenly, a swing of the hips, causes a dribble.

It’s NOT a flood.  But it’s uncomfortable, embarrassing………… DISTRESSING !

You’ve got stress urinary incontinence.

Stress urinary incontinence

It is actually quite common.  Stats suggest somewhere between 11 to 42 % of women, between 30 – 60 years, experience the problem.

So you’re NOT alone.

I’m not sure that is comforting.  Stress urinary incontinence is  one of the things, NOT TALKED about.

So what can you do ?

Pelvic floor muscle training

Dr google will suggest pelvic floor muscle training. For many ladies, it does work.  But you have to work at it.

And, this can be a challenge.  Technique matters.  So does motivation.  It’s one of those times, the old adage of,  use it or lose, it applies.  Eish !

So is there an easier option,  besides surgery ?

This is what a group of Japanese researchers wondered.  They were looking for something that was non-invasive, economical and has no side effects.

The biology of the pelvic floor

The team started with  thinking about the biology, of the pelvic floor.  It’s been described as a suspension bridge i.e. the structure and function are connected.  The internal muscles, fascia and ligaments, keep the pelvic organs, suspended in the “right” place.

For the bladder, the “right” place,  requires the bladder neck to be lifted.

So NO LEAKS happen……

Below the line

Unfortunately, wear and tear and HORMONES, can make the suspension bridge…………….. MORE WOBBLEY.

NOTE :  The HORMONES, are particularly problematic, the week or so, before you get the periods.  This is when estrogen and progesterone are high, this makes ligaments, a little more springy.

And that wobble, reverberates through the structure.

When there is a BIG increase in abdominal pressure, which can happen when you laugh, sneeze or do a jumping jack.  The extra give, allows the bladder neck, to drop below the LINE.  It is only there for a moment.

But that moment is all it takes, for a leak to happen.

It’s inevitable.  The angle is “WRONG”…………..gravity does the rest.

So to “fix” the problem, you have to stop THE WOBBLE.

Exercises stop the wobble

This is what pelvic floor muscle training does…. when it works, it minimizes the wobble, by making the structure, STRONGER.

The bladder experiences,  less bounce.

So the bladder neck, never dips too low.

You’re holding it up, from the inside.   But, on paper, at least, you could hold it up, from the outside too.

Outside support

Could fancy underwear do the trick ?  Our team of researchers went shopping for undies.

Not the sexy kind.

The kind that hides imperfections, through strategic SUPPORT.

NOT E:  You often see adverts for them on late night TV.

They chose undies which are available in Japanese stores, under the brand name SLIM-up-pant and did a little experimenting.

SLIM-up-pants hold the line

The first set of experiments they did, was to see, whether SLIM-up-pants, could elevate the bLadder neck.

And as expected………… they did.

Pelvic magnetic resonance image of 34 year old lady, showing bladder neck position, wearing normal and supportive underwear. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

This shows a Sagittal T1-weighted pelvic magnetic resonance image, of  what happened to a 34 year old lady, with and without the underwear on.  The arrows show the position of the bladder neck, relative to the pubococcygeal line

When she’s wearing the fancy panties, even when there is an increase in pelvic strain, the bladder neck,  HOLDS the line.

So  does this stop the dribbles ?

Supporting underwear makes a difference

Having confirmed that underwear, could hold the line, the team, wanted to see if it made a difference.

They recruited 50 ladies who “dribbled”.

To be part of the study, the ladies needed to dribble more than once a week, but to be otherwise healthy.  They excluded pregnant women and  very new Moms, from the study.

Each lady was issued with two pairs of panties. The ladies wore the  fancy underwear, during waking hours, for the duration of the study, which lasted 12 weeks.  Through out the study,  they kept tabs on their dribbles using a dairy.

So what happened ?

“Fixing” stress urinary incontinence

It worked,  in 85,4 % of the ladies it had disappeared completely and/or there had been a dramatic improvement.

© 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

No one got worse.

Interestingly enough, the improvement was seen across the board……

The “cures” had happened in two of the three women, with moderate urinary incontinence, and in all three women, classified as having severe urinary incontinence.

And when the team asked the ladies, if they would continue, wearing the pants.  With NO EXCEPTION, the ladies, indicated, the pants would be part of their normal wardrobe, going forward.

What is your underwear doing for you ?

If you’ve got a problem with the suspension bridge, try tightening up the girders, with a pair of supportive underwear.

It might just make all the difference……..

It’s a two for one deal,  you’ll look GOOD in your jeans, and your jeans, will ALWAYS smell, as fresh as daisies.

NOTE : When you are considering buying a pair of supportive underwear, the team think you should look for something that not only,  pushes you in from the front, but also lifts you up, at the back.  They’re not a 100 % sure, but they think what is going on at the backend, is the key.

Further reading

Want to discover more ways to create BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY ?