Why are women not seeking help for urinary incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is up to three times more common among women. Unfortunately, in our line of work, we see female urinary incontinence frequently. In my opinion, it is something that is not prioritised and not investigated enough. Urinary incontinence negatively impacts quality of life, mood and social participation. For a lot of women, it brings up feelings of shame and embarrassment, that can be a reason why they don’t seek help and feel it would be better to just get on with it, this should not be the case. We need to break down these barriers. It is a very personal issue and having an uncomfortable conversation with a doctor about it can deter women from getting help. Even when women do seek help, sometimes the response they get is that urinary incontinence is a natural consequence of having children or aging which can happen for some women but there are ways to improve it.

When women turn to family and friends with regards to this issue, they can be met with a response that it is a shared experience but they just kept going and didn’t seek help themselves. This starts a cycle of women suffering from incontinence as generations go on and not having it investigated, taking it that its just a part of life when really that is not the case. It is true that women’s pelvic floor can become weak through pregnancy and as women get older but it is certainly something that can get better.

Kegel exercises are simple exercises that help strengthen the pelvic floor which in turn can help improve urinary incontinence. These exercises can be done anywhere, anytime, without anyone knowing. I follow some women’s health physiotherapists on social media, everyday they post stories reminding followers to do their kegel exercises which is a light-hearted, informal way to remind women daily of something so important which I find really affective as a follower. I feel that it makes the topic a lot less daunting. Surgical intervention is another way that urinary incontinence can be treated but we will talk about this at another time.

I think there is not enough education and awareness out there on female urinary incontinence and incontinence wear. For a lot of women, they think wearing a panty liner daily for security fixes the problem but really it is just hides the issue. I would encourage all women experiencing urinary incontinence to advocate for themselves and get it investigated. I still hear stories of women being dismissed by healthcare professionals in relation to incontinence and I understand that when this happens a lot of women don’t seek further help for the issue due to this negative interaction and experience. It is a very intimate issue and when women don’t receive the right support and education it severely negatively impacts how they manage their incontinence.

I want to end this blog by sharing a personal experience of my own with you all that I hope will empower our readers to fight for themselves. When I was 17, I went to a urologist due to incontinence and retention which means I couldn’t empty my bladder properly. Tests were done and the end result was that I had to self catheterize. I sat in front of the consultant with my Dad which was extremely awkward and was handed a leaflet on self catheterization. It was explained to me that what was wrong was normally seen in women later in life or post pregnancy and that I would have to self catheterize for the rest of my life. As a 17 year old girl who was never pregnant I couldn’t understand how I had ended up here. I buried my face in the booklet, walked outside the department and broke my heart crying. I came back to be thought how to use the catheters and that was it. I did this for up to a year before I  was seen again. My own quality of life and mood was at an all time low in my final year of secondary school. I was very reluctant to get involved in social activities which was very hard for me and for my family to bear witness to as I have always been very outgoing and loved being out with friends. I had the tests repeated a year later and the result was that whatever was going on had resolved and I didn’t need to use catheters anymore. It might sound so ridiculous and anyone reading might think isn’t that great you must have been so happy  but I didn’t jump for joy I was so confused. My parents aren’t in the medical field, I was still so young and had not started my nursing degree yet, I didn’t know what questions to ask. I took the doctors word and never had to go back. When I think about this time in my life I wish I had advocated for myself better but I didn’t have the knowledge to back myself.

I hope that by sharing this experience it gives women the courage to fight for themselves. Doctors might be the experts in their field but we are experts of our bodies, we are the ones who live in them. Keep pushing for help until you are satisfied as you are the one who has to live with the issues you face.

-Tia.