Dealing with urinary incontinence can feel tough sometimes. It’s a problem that many of us are quietly grappling with. But you don’t have to accept it as part of aging, pregnancy, or some other health issues. There are postnatal core exercises and simple preventive measures that can help you manage or even prevent those leaks.
Preventive Measures for Urinary Incontinence
Dealing with urinary incontinence can feel like being trapped in a constant cycle of worry. But there are several preventive measures that can improve bladder control. And no, you don’t have to spend hours in the gym or give up all your favorite foods completely. It’s all about making some lifestyle changes.
1. Avoid Bladder Irritants
Certain foods and drinks, such as caffeine, alcohol, acidic foods, and spicy snacks, can irritate the bladder, causing you to pee more frequently than usual. So if you are a coffeeholic or love eating tandoori chicken at the local Indian restaurant, see if you can cut down to one coffee a day and limit the intake of spicy foods. You can also consider switching to caffeine-free teas or water-based drinks.
2. Keep Constipation in Control
It may not seem obvious at first, but there is a link between constipation and urinary incontinence. When stool builds up in the rectum, it puts extra pressure on the bladder, sometimes causing leaks or sudden urges to pee.
What’s the solution? Keeping your digestive system healthy seems to be the obvious choice. A diet rich in fiber (whole grains, fruits, and vegetables) combined with plenty of water and regular exercise can keep things moving.
3. Quit Smoking
We all know smoking isn’t great for your health. But did you know it can also affect your pelvic floor? The chronic coughing that often accompanies smoking can put a lot of strain on the pelvic muscles.
The immense pressure on the muscles weakens them over time and increases the risk of stress incontinence (the type of leakage that happens when you cough, sneeze, or laugh).
4. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Excess body weight can put extra strain on the bladder and surrounding muscles, leading to unwanted leaks. Try to keep your BMI (Body Mass Index) within a healthy range, which is between 18.5 and 24.9. A healthy BMI indicates that your body weight is normal.
5. Practice Bladder Training
Bladder training is a practice to build better control over your bladder. What do you have to do in this training? You have to set regular bathroom times, even if you don’t feel the urge to go. Then, you’ll gradually increase the time between bathroom visits, teaching your bladder to hold more urine. As a result, it’ll reduce the frequency of urgent trips to the restroom.
The Role of Hypopressives in Pelvic Floor Health
We all have a busy life. So dealing with weak pelvic floor muscles symptoms can feel like another thing to add to your already full plate. And that’s exactly the reason you need Hypopressives. These exercises don’t require hours of your time. Only a 15-20 minute session three-times a week is enough to start seeing positive changes.
A healthy pelvic floor supports the urinary system, so you have full control over when to urinate. But it can weaken due to factors like pregnancy, aging, or poor posture. This can lead to urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse. Hypopressives exercises offer a gentle way to help rebuild strength in your pelvic floor.
Through controlled breathwork and specific movements, Hypopressives work on the reflexive part of the core system, which makes up around 80% of that system. These exercises engage the pelvic floor, transverse abdominis, diaphragm and back muscles, making the core canister more flexible to withstand changes in intra-abdominal pressure. All these movements activate and strengthen the core and pelvic floor muscles.
Hypopressives also focus on alignment, teaching your body to maintain better posture, which reduces stress on the pelvic floor and improves core stability.
Getting Started With Hypopressives
For the Hypopressives classes it is important that you learn the Breathing/Apnea technique properly so that you can get the most out of the classes and the time you invest in yourself. Each week Simone runs Fundamentals sessions on Zoom where she explains the technique and guides you through all the steps.
She will also give you feedback to make sure that you’re doing it correctly. For some, the technique may come more quickly than others. Some of her clients, who are tighter in the ribs and thoracic spine do tend to take a little longer. And here’s the golden rule – for impactful change, Simone recommends at least three 15 to 20-minute workouts per week. Consistency is your best friend on this journey towards wellness.
