surprised woman

Startling Facts about Adult Diapers and Briefs

by General Urinary IncontinenceWomen's Healthcare

surprised womanDid you know that:

•Adult diapers and briefs currently make up 7% of our nation’s landfill?
•Baby diapers currently contribute just 2-3% of landfill waste?
•Diapers are the third largest type of landfill waste?
•The average adult diaper or brief will take up to 200 years to decompose (the same amount of time as an aluminum can)?

In the coming years, adult diapers will contribute an increasing percentage to our landfills. Not only are adult diapers and briefs larger than baby diapers, but the number of adults using diapers is on the rise.

Most diapers go into landfills, which exist on the edge of cities and towns and are eventually covered by dirt. As towns and cities expand over time, they appropriate and build on top of these landfills. Housing developments spread across these previous trash dumps, leading some to wonder what future archaeologists will think when excavating these sites. Will they wonder about the anthropological meaning of so much plastic-backed paper products?

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
If you or someone you know uses adult diaper products, there are two major ways to reduce your carbon footprint, or as some call it, your carbon “buttprint”:

  1. Use diaper boosters or diaper doublers. These are pads that go inside adult diapers, providing extra absorption and making each diaper last longer.
  2. Use long-lasting adult diapers. These diapers have been very popular in Europe and are available mostly online. While the average store-bought adult diaper lasts 2-3 hours, these long-lasting diapers allow users to go 6-8 hours before needing a change.

You can read more about ways to “go green” with adult diapers in Gary Hirsch’s blog.

Of course, the best way to reduce your carbon impact is to get out of adult diapers altogether by reducing symptoms of urinary incontinence. If you haven’t already, ask yourself the three questions we posed in our previous post to see if you have done everything you can to get out of diapers.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

trash by gender

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Can You Reduce Your Carbon “Butt Print”?

by General Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

trash by genderThese days people and companies alike are starting to take action to erase their carbon “foot print,” whether that means driving a hybrid car or going vegetarian.

But if you have women’s urinary incontinence and you use adult diapers or pads, you have to worry about more than your carbon foot print. You have to consider your carbon “butt print.”

What is a Carbon Butt Print?
Your carbon butt print is the amount of waste that you create by using adult diapers. Like many other consumer products that include plastic, diapers take a long, long time to break down in land fills. Hence, every diaper you use and throw away contributes to your carbon butt print.

Consider this:

  • Adult diapers and briefs currently make up 7% of our nation’s landfill
  • Baby diapers currently contribute just 2-3% of landfill waste
  • Diapers are the third largest type of landfill waste
  • The average adult diaper or brief will take up to 200 years to decompose (the same amount of time as an aluminum can)

Yowza … that’s a lot of carbon. And the number of adult diapers being thrown into landfills will only increase as baby boomers age.

What You Can Do to Reduce Your Carbon Butt Print
Naturally, the best thing for both you and the environment is to get out of adult diapers if at all possible. If you haven’t actually sought help for your women’s urinary incontinence (and about half of all women who have this condition have not), now is the time to do it. Here are some resources to help you get started:

Inspiration to Get Help
Finding the Right Doctor
Preparing for Your Appointment

Aside from that, you can reduce your carbon butt print by following the guidelines here:

Startling Facts about Adult Diapers and Briefs

Good luck and thanks for considering “going green” when dealing with your urinary incontinence!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Image courtesy of Iamnee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: What Does Your Heath Insurance Cover?

by GeneralGeneral Urinary IncontinenceWomen's Healthcare

When you get that giant packet of coverage information in the mail from your health insurance company, do you roll your eyes and stuff the entire packet into the back of some file drawer? If so, then you are among the majority! While much of the information in the packet is important, wading through all of those pages when you need just one specific bit of information isn’t easy. In fact, tracking down coverage information can be downright frustrating!

But guess what? If you suffer from women’s urinary incontinence you may actually want to spend the time and effort to find out what your health insurance covers.

The High Cost of Women’s Urinary Incontinence
Did you know that a woman with urinary incontinence in the U.S. spends an average of more than $1,000 per year doing extra laundry and buying disposable pads or diapers? This number is only an estimate because women’s urinary incontinence tops the list as one of the “most embarrassing” topics women refuse to discuss with their doctors–or anyone else, for that matter! Other estimates put the figure as high as $1,500 per year. Plus, this figure doesn’t even include the cost of other products, such as special wipes, creams, deodorants, and plastic bags (for carrying around soiled clothing).

The fact of the matter is that most women with urinary incontinence have never sat down with their checkbook and calculator to total up the financial cost of “coping” with their condition on their own. They would be shocked if they did. In addition, few add up the social costs associated with this condition, which can include a shrinking social life, lack of exercise and sex, and the hyper-vigilance of looking for bathrooms all over town.

What Does Your Health Insurance Cover for Women’s Urinary Incontinence?
If you don’t know that answer to this question, and have been coping with your urinary incontinence on your own, the time is right to get some information from your health insurance company. If digging through all that paperwork seems like too much work (and it can be!) then simply pick up the phone and call your insurance company. Most companies are more than happy to look up the information you need. You might be surprised at how much coverage you actually have. Many insurance companies will cover some or all of the cost of:

  • absorbent pads or adult diapers
  • one or more appointments with your family doctor
  •  one or more appointments with specialists such as urologists or ob/gyns
  • medication for urinary incontinence
  •  medical tests associated with urinary incontinence
  • several visits to a physical therapist specializing in women’s pelvic health
  • catheters
  • surgeries for urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse

That’s a pretty long list! If you have good health insurance coverage, there’s really no need for you to pay the entire cost of coping with your condition–that’s why you have insurance. However, for your insurance company to help you financially, you will almost certainly need to get a specific medical diagnosis of your condition from a healthcare practitioner approved by your insurance company. What a great excuse to call your doctor!

We know … talking about urinary incontinence with your doctor (or anyone else) can be embarrassing. But isn’t a little embarrassment worth it if you can get the financial and medical help you need to cope with, decrease, or even eliminate your symptoms of urinary incontinence? From the stories that we have heard from our women patients with urinary incontinence, the trade off is definitely worth it!

When it comes to getting help from your health insurance company and doctor for your women’s urinary incontinence, follow Nike’s slogan: “Just do it!”

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.