How Women Can Stop Peeing When Coughing

How Women Can Stop Peeing When Coughing

Experiencing urine leakage or peeing when coughing is a common issue for women, often caused by weak pelvic floor muscles. This condition, known as stress urinary incontinence (SUI), occurs when pressure is placed on the bladder, leading to involuntary leaks. 

In this blog, we’ll discuss why it happens, how to strengthen your pelvic floor to prevent it, and how Gynesis, an external, non-invasive pelvic floor strengthening trainer, can help you perform 180 perfect Kegel exercises without any guesswork.

Why Do Women Pee When They Cough?

Do You Pee When You Cough? If you answered yes, it's likely you've got stress urinary incontinence (SUI). The good news is that you’re not on your own—Millions of women have some form of SUI. And because it’s often an embarrassing and taboo subject, there's probably a lot more people out there with bladder leaks who are yet to be diagnosed.

Both men and women can have SUI, although it tends to be more common in women with one-third of women in the UK experiencing SUI (1).

Your diagnosis of SUI doesn't have to be the end of your story. Did you know that strengthening your pelvic floor muscles can put an end to your bladder leaks?

In this blog post, we’re going to take a look at what causes you to pee when coughing and how to put an end to those pesky leaks.

Understanding Stress Urinary Incontinence and Pelvic Floor Weakness

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is an unintentional urine leak caused by pressure or 'stress' on the bladder. It occurs when the pelvic floor muscles, which support the bladder and control urinary function, become weakened. 

What Causes Stress Incontinence?

  • Pregnancy and childbirth increase pressure and stretch on pelvic floor muscles.
  • Weight gain, obesity can strain pelvic floor muscles.
  • Hormonal changes during pregnancy and menopause affect pelvic floor tissue strength.
  • Chronic constipation or heavy lifting can also strain pelvic floor muscles.

Types of Urinary Incontinence

There are a few other types of stress urinary incontinence including:

Urge Incontinence: Also known as "overactive bladder," urge incontinence involves a sudden and intense urge to urinate, often leading to involuntary urine leakage before reaching the bathroom. It's typically caused by bladder muscle spasms or nerve damage, resulting in an overactive bladder.

Mixed Incontinence: Mixed incontinence is a combination of stress and urge incontinence, where individuals experience symptoms of both types. This can involve leakage during physical activities as well as sudden urges to urinate.

Overflow Incontinence: Occurs when the bladder doesn't empty completely, leading to frequent or constant dribbling of urine. It's often caused by an obstruction or blockage in the urinary tract, such as an enlarged prostate in men or a urinary tract infection.

Exercises to Strengthen the Pelvic Floor and Prevent Leaks when Coughing

There are a few options to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and stop bladder leaks when coughing. Let's dive into three of them below.

1. Kegel Exercises

Practicing Kegel exercises or pelvic floor exercises daily can reduce your bladder leaks by strengthening your pelvic floor and is probably the first treatment your doctor will recommend. You can do Kegels on their own or using Kegel weights, or internal devices, such as an electrical probe.

Using vaginal weights can be uncomfortable and may cause problems. For example, you may find that the weights get stuck, cause tearing, or poor cleaning of the device can lead to infections. Also, if you use the weights too much, you may find that your muscles become too tight which can lead to pain during sex (5).

Doing Kegel exercises can be tricky because it’s easy to squeeze your tummy or thigh muscles rather than your pelvic floor. They can also be time-consuming, and let’s face it, we’d all rather be doing something other than Kegels.

2. Muscle-Strengthening Techniques

Muscle-strengthening techniques, such as vaginal cones, biofeedback, and electrical stimulation, offer effective options for managing stress incontinence. Vaginal cones, small devices inserted into the vagina, improve pelvic floor strength over time, reducing symptoms through targeted muscle training. 

Biofeedback provides real-time feedback on muscle activity, enhancing coordination and control. Electrical stimulation uses low-voltage currents to strengthen muscles and alleviate urinary urgency and frequency associated with stress incontinence.

3. Controlled Coughing and Techniques.

Controlled coughing and the airway clearance technique can help reduce the amount of leakage when you cough. How do you do this? Simply sit upright with a straight spine before you cough. This technique can help you to clear your airway, as research has shown that your pelvic floor works best in this position.

There’s also a technique called ‘The Knack’. To do this, tighten and lift your pelvic floor muscles before you cough to protect your pelvic muscles from weakening (2).

4. Lifestyle Changes

There are a few lifestyle changes you may want to make to stop your leaks when coughing, such as:

  • Losing weight, this reduces the pressure that's placed on your pelvic floor muscles when you cough
  • Cutting out caffeine and alcohol
  • Avoid foods like artificial sweeteners, carbonated beverages, chocolate, citrus fruits and tomatoes, spicy foods
  • Stopping or cutting down on smoking (6)

5. Medications

Botox injections can alleviate urge incontinence by relaxing bladder muscles. There are medications for pelvic floor issues and stress incontinence, but may have side effects and long-term risks. However, both options should be carefully considered with a healthcare provider to find the best solution for you and due to potential complications.

6. Surgical Options:

Surgical interventions for pelvic floor issues include repairing weakened muscles or tissues. Procedures such as pelvic organ prolapse repair or sling surgeries address urinary incontinence. Stress incontinence treatments for women may involve vaginal estrogen therapy, insertable vaginal pessaries, urethral injections, or sling surgeries, each targeting different aspects of pelvic floor support to reduce urine leakage.

How Gynesis Can Help You Stop Peeing When Coughing for Good

Gynesis is here to help women say goodbye to peeing when they cough! Coughing, sneezing, or laughing shouldn’t lead to embarrassing urine leaks. By strengthening your pelvic floor muscles, you can regain control and confidence. 

Gynesis offers a non-invasive, easy solution for women struggling with stress incontinence. In just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, Gynesis performs 180 perfect pelvic floor exercises for you, helping to stop leaks and improve bladder control. Ready to take control of your pelvic health? Try Gynesis today and say goodbye to unwanted leaks!

The number one way reduce peeing when coughing is to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Choosing to strengthen your pelvic floor can be time-consuming, and using internal devices can be dangerous. 

Gynesis helps you to do your pelvic floor exercises perfectly by doing them for you (all 180 of them). In fact, they’re so effective that research shows that 87% of Gynesis users were defined as dry, or almost dry, after 12 weeks (7).

Find out how Gynesis can put an end to your bladder leaks and how you can get back to coughing leak-free

Sources
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