Allergy Season...and other reasons to avoid gray leggings!
Photo: James Pritchett
There are various challenges we face as women, but being fearful of wearing gray pants shouldn’t be one of them. It is not uncommon for ladies to complain (or just accept!) that they leak a small amount of urine with sneezing (thank you, pollen). Or, that might not be what causes leaks for certain women at all. Some women require different intensities of abdominal pressure to cause this leakage. This can include coughing, laughing, jumping jacks, double unders, or pull ups. The list goes on.
But, what shouldn’t be going on is accepting this as your ‘normal.’ You have better things to do than worry about allergy season. Or plyometrics (seriously, good job if you’re fitting these in). What is really happening here when that little droplet or so makes it’s way out? It can be helpful to imagine your body as a little cardboard juice box that hasn’t been opened yet. When you squeeze in the middle you put stress in the top and bottom of the container, and the little cardboard edges start to lift up. The pressure has to go somewhere, and your hand is supporting the middle, so the top and bottom start to give.
In our bodies the ‘juice box’ is made of our abdominals in the middle, pelvic floor on the bottom, and diaphragm on top. If you’re leaking with activities that increase the pressure in your core, the weakest part of that system may not be able to maintain it’s pressure. If you’re leaking urine, the weakest part of your system is your pelvic floor. You can thank your kids for that. There is nothing like giving birth to stretch the supportive muscles of the pelvic floor. But it is not uncommon for women who have not had babies to experience this leakage (termed stress urinary incontinence, or SUI) also. Although different factors may be involved- including a weak pelvic floor, or really strong abs as in the case of gymnasts or high level athletes-the main factor driving SUI is usually an inability to correctly manage your core pressure.
If this sort of issue is preventing you from enjoying your favorite leggings, or requires you to wear a absorptive liner, then consider these ways to reduce pressure in your juice box/core:
Posture: Keeping your body upright is one of the easiest ways to reduce pressure to your pelvic floor. If you go back to the juice box analogy, when there is a bend in the box you always unkink it before handing it to your toddler/husband/anyone less skilled in juice boxes than yourself. This is because a ‘kink’ in the system reduces the volume it will tolerate, and when that straw goes in it is more likely to cause juice to go everywhere. If your ribs are slouching into your stomach because your back is rounded, your system has increased pressure downward and requires more force from your pelvic floor to avoid leakage.
Breathing: This one might seem obvious, but when we are doing higher intensity tasks many people tend to hold their breath. High intensity means different things to different people, but the main idea here is that if you exhale on an exertion (picking up a child, landing on a jumping jack) you should have less pressure in your juice box, and therefore less pressure on your pelvic floor.
Avoid bearing down (forcefully pushing) with voiding your bladder or bowels. First of all, if you’re feeling this is necessary then something isn’t right. Check out this post (applicable even if not pregnant) if constipation is an issue for you. My best way to explain this one is imagining repeated stretching in combination with extra pressure. You are repeatedly overstretching tissue that is meant to expand in that way primarily for childbirth.
Pay attention to your monthly cycle. We have conscious control over some of the sphincters (the external ones) that control urinary and fecal continence. The internal sphincters of the bowel and bladder are regulated by your non-voluntary, or smooth, muscles. After ovulation there is an increase in progesterone levels and smooth muscle relaxes somewhat. You may notice having to work harder to avoid leakage during the week or so before your period because you are relying more on your external sphincters.
Strengthen: Know your own limits and progress your pelvic floor strength and endurance as you would any other muscle group. If jumping rope is problematic for you, it’s probably best not to continue using that as your form of cardio. Instead consider trying box step ups/downs in a controlled manner to build endurance here, then eventually progress to jumping. You can’t counter high ‘juice box’ pressure without a moderate amount of force available to your pelvic floor.
This list encompasses some of the factors that will affect your ability to hold back urine, but these tactics may or may not work for you. If you have persistent SUI, consider seeking help from a medical professional to address it so you don’t ever have to consider allergy season as anything more than just allergies. I hope this information has been helpful!
*This article is not meant as medical advice. Please see your medical practitioner to address any of your healthcare concerns.