“Peezing”. AKA Peeing when you sneeze.
It’s allergy season in Charlotte which means lots of sneezing and coughing and for some women means lots of leaking. It can be embarrassing, frustrating and annoying. But you don’t have to just live with it! Pelvic Floor PT can help!
Sneezing and coughing are forceful exhales. When you sneeze and cough, a lot of pressure is generated in the core. In a well functioning pelvic floor, the muscles will contract to meet the demand of that increased pressure to prevent leaking. But if the pelvic floor muscles are not functioning well, pee will leak out.
A few reasons the pelvic floor muscles might not be functioning well to prevent leaking:
Weakness: this is the most obvious reason, right? The muscles have to be strong enough to meet that demand and prevent leaking. In this case, specific pelvic floor strengthening exercises could be prescribed.
Tightness/overactivity: A tight and overactive muscle is also a weak muscle. If a muscle cannot move through it’s full range of motion due to tightness, it will not function properly. In this case, working on pelvic floor muscle relaxation would be most beneficial. And then potentially follow it up with strengthening as needed.
Lack of coordination/a timing issue: could be that your pelvic floor muscles are not contracting quick enough, or they have a delayed contraction. Working on timing with exhales would be beneficial in this case.
Lack of coordination with the diaphragm: if your diaphragm and your pelvic floor are not working in synergy the way they should, this can cause a dysfunctional pelvic floor also. Working on proper diaphragmatic breathing and retraining these two to work in synergy would be beneficial.
Lack of coordination between sides of the pelvic floor: what if one side is working well but the other isn’t? Pee will leak out. This scenario is not uncommon, we often look at the hips to see if there are asymmetries in muscle strength or flexibility here too.
Tips:
See a pelvic floor PT! We can help you figure out the why behind your leaking and work on strategies and exercises to improve it.
Try standing on 1 leg when you sneeze. This will help activate the pelvic floor muscles. If one leg doesn’t do the trick, try the other!
Hip hinge when you sneeze. This helps prevent tucking the butt under when you sneeze which is what most women do. When you tuck your butt under, it places the front of the pelvic floor muscles in a less than optimal position making them have to work much harder to contract and prevent leaking.
Perform the “knack” ( a pre-contraction of the pelvic floor muscles) prior to sneezing. Often you’ll feel the sneeze coming on. Pause, perform a pelvic floor contraction, then sneeze. This technique works well if you know how to do a pelvic floor contraction properly. Not sure if you are doing your pelvic floor contraction correctly? See a PT!
This can be an embarrassing and frustrating situation but know that you’re not alone. It’s common, around 1 in 3 women experience Stress Urinary Incontinence. But also know that you don’t have to just live with it. Pelvic floor physical therapy can help! Contact me for an assessment and let’s work together to help reduce the “peezing”!!
