Teens and young women

Women of all ages can develop weakened pelvic floor muscles and be affected by bladder weakness.

We often think that bladder weakness is only associated with more mature women, it can be a shock when young women are affected in their teenage years. For teenage women this experience can be embarrassing and debilitating. Also many younger women feel very alone and not able to discuss it with their peers.

Young women who become pregnant and have children in their teenage years and into their early twenties, may find their pelvic floor muscles are compromised. If you don’t get your pelvic floor muscles back into shape in between pregnancies, the issue can get worse. Whilst youth is a benefit in terms of quickly regaining muscle tone, many young women are surprised to experience leaking and a restriction in physical activity. Fortunately Smart Balls are ideal for teenage and young women to use and are effective in regaining pelvic floor tone and prevent bladder weakness.

Intense and prolonged physical over-exertion may weaken the pelvic floor muscles. Young women who are playing sport or working in hospitality roles where they are on their feet for long periods of time can be affected. When engaging in any strenuous exercise it is important to ensure there is a focus on core strength so that pelvic floor tone is maintained.

Bladder weakness can be inherited, you may find if you ask your mother, grandmother or aunties, that there is a family history of bladder weakness. This is something you are very likely to be able to improve upon through active pelvic floor exercises or using Smart Balls or Natratone.

If you are you are young and do find you are experiencing bladder weakness, SmartBalls are an easy and effective option. Worn as you go about your daily business and with a focused period of initial use (we recommend 6—8 weeks) you will quickly notice an improvement. Using your SmartBalls ongoing for maintenance will ensure you have excellent pelvic floor tone for your lifetime.

The different types of incontinence:

• Stress Incontinence: this is a very common type of bladder weakness often associated with sneezing, coughing, laughing, and jumping, where pressure on the abdomen pushes on the bladder and can lead to urine leakage.
  
  
• Urge Incontinence: Urge incontinence is the most common type of incontinence. You may suddenly feel you have a desperate need to go to the toilet. Urge incontinence is often experienced by menopausal women.
  
  
• Mixed Incontinence: This type of incontinence is caused by a mixture of both stress incontinence and urge incontinence.
  
  
• Overflow Incontinence: During overflow incontinence your bladder cannot empty completely. As a result, your bladder will fill up very quickly making you feel like you need to go to the bathroom very frequently. Leakage is common.

Treatments for incontinence

Many women /teenagers are too embarrassed to ask for help. There are many simple, effective and inexpensive treatments that we recommend considering and trying before seeking more radical options such as surgery.

• What you eat and drink can improve your bladder strength.
  
  
• Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day to flush the bladder. Whilst to start with you may have to go to the toilet more frequently, this will drop off as your system reaches an equilibrium.
  
  
• Reduce caffeine intake from coffee, regular tea and ‘smart drinks’. (Many herbal teas are caffeine free and are fine).
  
  
• Smoking can also exacerbate bladder weakness.
  
  

Pelvic Floor Exercises

Done regularly, these are an effective way to correct and prevent bladder weakness. Find out more on different ways to do pelvic floor exercises.

SmartBalls

SmartBalls are an easy to use system for toning your pelvic floor muscles. Worn vaginally as you go about you daily business, Smart Balls allow you to get your muscles in great shape without having to squeeze, lie down or even think about them .Find out more on how to use Smart Balls

Smart Balls are easy and effective for preventing and correcting bladder weakness for women of all ages and life stages. Smart Balls are not recommended for use during pregnancy and are ideal before and after giving birth, and fine to use for teenagers that know their own bodies.

Bladder Retraining 

How to train your bladder to urinate less frequently:

• Drink 6-8 glasses of water each day, and delay going to the toilet each time, first by 5 minutes building up to each time by a few more minutes
  
  
• Work towards delaying urination by a few minutes, increasing the delay over time and your bladder will be retrained to hold on for longer. Read more about how to retrain your bladder.