How Alcohol Affects Incontinence and Pelvic Floor Health in Women

January 09, 2025

Let’s chat about alcohol and incontinence and the impact on women’s pelvic health. Have you enjoyed a glass (or three) of wine with your friends and felt the need to pop to the bathroom when your friend grabbed your hand and told you to ‘sit down’ because if you pee, you're going to ‘break the seal’?

Well, guess what? Breaking the seal isn’t a real thing. When you drink alcohol, you’ll need to pee more, whether you pee earlier in the night or not. Crossing your legs and ignoring that tingling feeling can lead to health problems (more on this in a bit).

To be clear, alcohol doesn’t cause bladder leaks. However, if you already have a bladder problem, for example, you have stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or an overactive bladder, alcohol can make your symptoms worse (1).

Alcohol and Incontinence: The Impact on Women's Pelvic Floor Health

Do you feel drinking alcohol is affecting your day-to-day life? Are you waking up to find that you’ve peed in your sleep? You’re not alone and don’t have to suffer in silence. There are things you can do, such as speaking to your doctor, drinking in moderation, and using Gynesis to help strengthen your pelvic floor muscles.

In this post, we’ll be covering the effect alcohol has on your bladder and how drinking too much can cause you to wet the bed. We'll also take a look at what you can do to stop bladder leaks after drinking alcohol.

The Connection Between Alcohol and Bladder Control

Alcohol is a diuretic, which means after you’ve had a drink, you’ll produce more urine, so naturally, you’ll need to pee more often (2).

When you drink plenty of water, you’ll notice your urine is clear or a pale yellow. When you drink lots of alcohol, it can cause you to become dehydrated, and you’ll notice that your pee turns darker in colour, becomes cloudy, and may smell unpleasant.

When pee sits in your bladder, it becomes more concentrated and can cause irritation and inflammation in the lining of your bladder. This increases your chances of getting a urinary tract infection (UTI), sometimes leading to a kidney infection (3). This is why you should never resist the urge to urinate to “not break the seal.”

Alcohol Can Make You Go More Often

Beer, wine, and spirits are bladder stimulants, which means the more you drink, the more you’ll find yourself in the bathroom. The urge to visit the bathroom happens because the detrusor muscles contract too much. If you're diagnosed with having an overactive bladder, alcohol can make your bladder leaks worse (4).

Needing to urinate can be frustrating on a night out or whilst travelling, as taking regular trips to the bathroom or waiting in the queue when you're bursting to pee can be a nightmare. If you have a physical impairment, too, this may make it difficult for you to reach the toilet in time.

Alcohol May Make You Think You Need The Toilet When You Don’t

Drinking a lot of alcohol can cause your brain to send impaired signals to your body, tricking you into thinking you don’t need to go when you do. If you've ever found yourself needing the toilet on a night out and not being able to pee—this may be why.

Tips to Manage Alcohol-Related Incontinence

Speaking to your doctor is important if you’re experiencing leaks due to bladder weakness.

Bladder weakness can have multiple causes, and it’s essential to identify the root cause to treat your specific type of incontinence. By identifying and treating incontinence, you can reclaim control over some aspects of your life and have the confidence to be in crowded or awkward environments such as planes or trains or even on a night out without worrying about going to the toilet as often.

If your leaks relate to when you have consumed alcohol, they'll tell you to cut down on the number of drinks you’re having.

The daily recommended amount of alcohol for both men and women is 14 units a week if you’re drinking regularly (6). Find out how much you're drinking using the unit calculator.

What can you do to limit your alcohol intake (5, 7,8, 9)?

Switch to a 5.5% wine instead of the usual 12 -14%
Stop using your favourite giant novelty wine glass (we’ve all got one)
Don’t mix your drinks with caffeine and fizzy drinks, as these can irritate your bladder
Pace yourself, and don’t drink too late into the night
Go to the toilet right before you climb into bed
Set an alarm and go to the toilet during the night
Strengthen your pelvic floor muscles using Kegel exercises

How Gynesis Helps Strengthen the Pelvic Floor for Better Control

Kegel exercises are the first-line treatment your doctor will recommend to stop your bladder leaks. Knowing that you can take immediate action is empowering, but doing Kegels can be boring, time-consuming, and tricky. That’s where Gynesis can help.

Gynesis pelvic floor trainer shorts are an external, non-invasive solution that takes the guesswork out of pelvic floor workouts - Helping women gain all the benefits of doing Kegel exercises without the effort.

Gynesis (pending FDA approval) ensures that you are doing your Kegel exercises correctly - the smart pelvic floor trainer shorts do them for you, giving you 180 perfect Kegels in just 30 minutes. All you need to do is slip them on for 30 minutes a day, five days a week – and that’s it! 87% of women who use Gynesis are leak-free in 12 weeks or less, and 90% of women share that Gynesis has significantly improved their quality of life.

Gynesis is a pair of shorts that you wear for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, whilst relaxing. Gynesis does 180 perfect pelvic floor exercises for you, taking the guesswork out of those Kegels. Find out how Gynesis works and how it can treat your bladder leaks—Cheers to that!

Find out more about how Gynesis works.

Say goodbye to temporary fixes and hello to lasting relief from urinary incontinence with Gynesis.

Get back to the active lifestyle you love!

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