Bladder Weakness

Bladder weakness

What is bladder weakness?

Bladder weakness can be as much as the odd squirt of urine when you laugh or cough, to really restricting your lifestyle and enjoyment of life. Many women find they can no longer engage in physical activity such as running or jumping on the tramp with your kids.

Bladder weakness at any stage is annoying and ongoing can become extremely frustrating and upsetting. None of us needs the stress that experiencing bladder weakness can bring to our lives, and no one deserves to be restricted in enjoying life to the full.

Who does bladder weakness affect?

Women of all ages can be affected by bladder weakness although it most commonly affects women post childbirth and during menopause. Pregnancy and childbirth challenge the pelvic floor muscles and focused toning is required to strengthen and tone these muscles.

Why does bladder weakness occur?

The hormonal changes during pregnancy, breastfeeding and then later during menopause also have a huge affect on these muscles. These normal hormonal changes in your body cause the pelvic floor muscles to relax resulting in bladder weakness.

What do pelvic floor muscles do?

The reality is that the majority of women will be affected by bladder weakness at some stage during their lifetime. Maintaining good pelvic floor tone throughout your lifetime is a very important for optimum health and ongoing enjoyment of life.

Pelvic floor exercises (also known as Kegel excercises)

There are a few options available in terms of maintaining optimum pelvic floor tone. The key is to find the best choice for you and to integrate it into your lifestyle on an ongoing basis (for your lifetime). It is never too late to begin toning your pelvic floor and you may choose to combine a few different methods to ensure effective toning.

It’s important to assess your pelvic floor muscles so you can gauge a realistic timeframe in terms of actually experiencing a change. Having realistic expectations means you can set achievable toning goals and be motivated to persevere. It is well worth the effort as the result can be life changing.

So what are the options?

Pelvic floor exercises or Kegel exercises are a series of voluntary contractions of all the perineal muscles and are designed to strengthen all the striated muscles in this area.

They are often referred to as ‘Kegels’ named after the physician who invented them, Dr Arnold Kegel. Kegel exercises are often prescribed post childbirth and to treat urinary incontinence in both sexes. Simply put, the exercise involves contracting of the muscles used to stop a flow of urine. Practice doing this while on the loo and you will soon learn how to isolate these muscles.

The great thing about Kegel exercises is that they can be done anytime/anywhere. Try clenching while brushing your teeth, talking on the phone or even watching T.V. Find out more about how to do pelvic floor execises

Smart Balls are an easy way to tone and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles as the weighted balls stimulate the muscles to contract…doing the work for you. Smart Balls are worn vaginally as you go about your daily business. They are easy to use, non-intrusive and most women don’t even notice they are wearing them! You will notice a reduction in bladder weakness after 2-3 weeks of using your Smart Balls and after 8 weeks of regular use you should have control of your bladder again. Find out more about how to use Smart Balls.

Core strengthening focused exercise will aid in toning your pelvic floor muscles. Options include pilates, yoga and pelvic floor focused physiotherapy exercises. We suggest doing some research to find out which form of exercise will suit your body and lifestyle. Make sure that practitioner you choose to guide you through an exercise programme is experienced in pelvic floor strengthening and aware that you want to focus on that area.