Are you giving yourself a hard time? Women do this all too often, and undoubtedly men do too. Whether it’s because we feel we’re not ‘good enough’, ‘beautiful enough’, ‘thin enough’, ‘strong enough’, ‘successful enough’ and just ‘not enough’ in general, these are all toxic thoughts that serve little purpose and create a nasty cycle of negative self-talk.
The truth? We’re all just doing our best! Stop and give yourself a pat on the back for being you and juggling all that life throws at you on a daily basis. AND ideally, stop giving yourself such a hard time!
As a brand that aims to address and solve a problem that remains one of the last ‘taboo’ topics, the INNOVO team is all too familiar with the negative self-talk (or lack of talk altogether) that goes along with bladder weakness. Leaks are more common than hay fever – every third woman in the UK suffers from this in some shape or form. And the majority of these women won’t talk about it – not with their GP, their best friend, their partners or family members, as they feel so ashamed of what they’re going through. A UK-wide study found that nearly half of women surveyed at GP surgeries had urinary incontinence, but only one in 20 with moderate or severe incontinence had sought help1.
The problem that this creates is that when there is a lack of conversation being had around a problem, it leaves no room for learning about the available solutions, and also, learning about just how common the issue really is. So, these women (& men), go on and on, year after year, putting a plaster (read: pad) over the issue, continuing to feel shame about the problem, and never truly solving it.
THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE.
Shifting the conversation (or lack thereof) around bladder weakness from shame and embarrassment, to an open conversation that facilitates feelings of empowerment and a common goal of solving the problem, is where we need to start. We’d like to encourage you to drop the negative self-talk about bladder weakness, and tackle this head-on – we need to #LetsPeeHonest. Talk to your friends, your medical practitioner, to us, to whoever you feel comfortable with, and help us to start breaking down this pointless taboo. Start looking at what options exist and work best for you – whether it’s INNOVO or not, just seek a solution, rather than putting up with it.
#LetsPeeHonest
We’ve partnered with TV personality Nadia Sawalha, to get these open conversations started. Nadia has openly spoken about her battle with bladder weakness on TV, and now she’s sharing her story in much more detail to encourage others to open up too. You can follow the campaign on social media by searching the hashtag #LetsPeeHonest
