We hate to keep hammering on this statistic, but it continues to amaze and shock us: women with urinary incontinence typically wait almost seven years before seeking help from a medical professional … if they seek help at all! In fact, only 50% of women with urinary incontinence do seek help. The rest simply suffer in silence and cope with the symptoms as best they can.
The most ridiculous part of the above statistics is there are so many forms of help available for women’s urinary incontinence, from simple lifestyle changes to minimally-invasive surgeries with high rates of success. So why do so many women wait so long to seek help for their urinary incontinence, or refuse to seek help at all?
Embarrassment
Believe it or not, women’s urinary incontinence tops the list of health conditions that ladies feel most embarrassed about discussing with their doctors. As a result of wanting to avoid a red-faced discussion, 50% of these women suffer through almost seven years of urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage before gathering up the courage to ask for help. The other half would rather suffer through the symptoms than have “the talk” about urinary incontinence with their doctors.
Wow … what all of these women fail to realize is that they give up a tremendous amount in their lives simply to avoid having one embarrassing conversation about urinary incontinence with their doctors. In fact, let’s take a closer look at what women suffering from urinary incontinence give up because they want to avoid embarrassment.
#1 – Your Social Life
One of the first items a woman with urinary incontinence sacrifices is her social life. One study indicated that women worried about urinary leakage were most afraid to “sit on a friend’s couch.” If you are afraid to even sit on your friend’s couch for fear that you might have a leakage accident, then you can see how your social life would begin to shrink at a rapid rate! You will also begin to skip “Girls’ Night Out,” movies, and chats over coffee with your gal pals.
At that point, the isolation becomes apparent. The stage after isolation is often depression and unhappiness. In fact, even your immune system is affected when you stop connecting with your friends and social network. Consider this:
“Several studies support the idea that people who feel connected to friends – whether it’s a few close friends or a large group – have stronger immunity than those who feel alone. In one study, freshmen who were lonely had a weaker immune response to a flu vaccine than those who felt connected to others.” (http://on.webmd.com/W8CTPV)
#2 – Exercise and Fitness
For women with urinary incontinence, fitness and weight maintenance is a big part of reducing symptoms like urinary urgency, leakage, and frequency. Overweight women tend to suffer more severe symptoms since every extra pound above the pelvic area puts pressure on the bladder and pelvic organ, often resulting in leakage accidents. Therefore, the ability to exercise and stay fit is crucial to women who want to improve their symptoms. But there is a catch-22. Women with urinary incontinence tend to leak urine when they exercise. This leakage, in turn, tends to discourage exercise, since no woman enjoys the “wet pants” look. Lack of exercise tends to lead to weight gain, depression, and emotional eating … and more weight gain. You get the picture of the vicious cycle that can happen. Women with urinary incontinence who fail to seek help for their condition often toss their exercise regimen out the window, and fall prey to the vicious cycle described above.
#3 – The Stress of the Unexpected
Studies show that one of the worst aspects of women’s urinary incontinence is the stress of living with the unexpected. Women with this condition are always wondering when the next urinary leakage accident will occur. They stress about whether they will reach the bathroom in time. They prepare endlessly for that unexpected accident by carrying around changes of clothing, adult diapers, sanitary wipes, and scented baggies to avoid urine odor. They wear pants that can be quickly pulled down (but often lack a sense of fashion). In other words, women with urinary incontinence go “all out” to prevent leakage accidents, and live in a constant state of stress about such accidents. This kind of stress if highly detrimental to a woman’s health on multiple levels.
Do You See the Picture Now?
The above is just the “short list” of what you give up when you suffer from urinary incontinence and refuse to seek help from a medical professional. Of course, embarrassment isn’t the only reason that you might avoid seeking help, but our guess is that embarrassment is a big factor. But if you really stop and think about it, is embarrassment truly a fate worse than death? We think not! There are many women, very much alive, who can testify to that fact! So don’t be one of those statistics we mentioned at the beginning of the article. Don’t avoid asking for help and don’t wait seven years to ask for help. If you have women’s urinary incontinence, ask for help now before you sacrifice any more quality of life to this easily treatable condition!
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