Bladder leakage can really mess up your daily life. It can affect what clothes you wear, how carefree you are (or aren’t!) when you go out and how comfortable you are in intimate situations. And that’s not all!
According to new research from the Portuguese Health Ministry, stress urinary incontinence (SUI) can also dampen our mood and affect our mental health. The research found that women dealing with incontinence reported higher rates of depression and low self-worth. Ugh—so not okay.
Obviously, addressing SUI (more on that soon!) is a surefire way to make you feel better, but there are also a few other tactics that can help. Read on to learn more about them.
#1 Know You Aren’t Alone
Repeat after us: Leakage is incredibly common—like really common. In fact, 31% of postpartum women experience SUI. But it’s not just women who have given birth that experience leakage. A whopping 50 percent of post menopausal women also deal with it, as do over 30% of female athletes. Translation: There are a ton of women out there who get what you’re going through.
While it’s not great that so many women are suffering, keeping things in perspective by acknowledging that you’re not alone can be comforting. On that note, it’s important to keep in mind that just like SUI can put you in a bad mood, addressing your leaking can boost your overall happiness.
#2 Don’t Isolate Yourself
It can be tempting to make your world smaller and smaller when you have SUI. Maybe you don’t want to deal with the embarrassment of leaking during your spin class, so you stop working out. Or you’re afraid your funny friend will make you laugh a little too hard during a girl’s night out, so you stay home and binge watch reality television instead. If any of this rings true, it’s no wonder your mood is in the dumps.
Rather than isolating yourself, try to find ways to enjoy life while you navigate your SUI. Rather than a high-impact workout class, try something that won’t put stress on your bladder—like Pilates. If you’re meeting up with pals, try wearing clothes that aren’t too tight across your abandonment—save those high-rise skinny jeans for later! Finding small ways that will make you feel more comfortable continuing to move about your normal life will go a long way towards keeping you feeling normal. And when you’re not depressed, you’ll feel better equipped to tackle your incontinence issues.
#3 Address The Issue
Imagine a life where you could laugh as hard as you wanted to without worrying about wetting yourself. Sounds nice, right? Well, you can make it a reality—which will, in turn, boost your mood. To do this, you’ll need to strengthen your pelvic floor through Kegel exercises. You can try to do them manually by tightening those muscles like you’re sitting on a blueberry and lifting it, until you feel your muscles rise. You should then hold for 10 seconds and then relax and release.
Unfortunately, many women do manual Kegels incorrectly and this can make things even worse. INNOVO provides an easy, at-home solution that’s safe and clinically-proven to treat urinary incontinence. In just 30 minutes you’ll get 180 kegels delivered right to your pelvic floor muscles with every session. Use INNOVO for 30 minutes a day, five days a week for 12 weeks as a proven way to eliminate bladder leaks. And 80% of women see results in as little as four weeks.
