Athletic/Post Partum Incontinence

[grapefruit]

I had a radical healing of back and hip pain from Sarno's books. Now I am trying to deal with urinary incontinence from sprinting and sports. There are equal reasons why it could be structural and why it could be mindbody. I know for certain that at least to a degree the condition is affected by my mind and stress. I don't really want to hear any "nays" (I already made the mistake of reading about "bladder prolapse" which terrified me out of my mind and wish I had never heard about so I could just go on enjoying being physically active without fear). Basically I'm wondering if there are any success stories about this topic. Googling brings up nothing for me.

 

[EileenS]

Now I am trying to deal with urinary incontinence from sprinting and sports.

Have you been doing your kegel exercises? You also say you're post partum. As long as you do them property and consistently they work wonders for women. As far as tms goes, a feeling of urgency to go is typical tms, but sounds like you have the typical weakened muscles after child birth and years of running.

 

[grapefruit]

So you believe running is bad for your pelvic floor?

 

[EileenS]

So you believe running is bad for your pelvic floor?

You said sprinting and sports, so assumed you meant you have an issue from a lot of running as well as the typical post partum muscle issue. Running can cause weakened muscles over time, but again can be fixed with kegels. It's nothing serious.

 

[grapefruit]

Why does running cause weakened muscles in the pelvis but not the legs/hip/feet/back? Also, how can exercise both cause muscle weakness and fix it? I don't follow this logic. It sounds a lot to me like the faulty "logic" of physiotherapy.

Ironically, the physio I saw for my SI joint pain is also one of the leading pelvic floor specialists in my city. And she was totally wrong about my back.

Like I said in my original post, I'm not really looking for nay-sayers; I'm looking for another success story for encouragement. And no the condition is not harmful, but it is embarassing and affects athletic performance.

 

[grapefruit]

I would be interested in hearing from older people who have been running for decades if they now have bladder incontinence.

 

[EileenS]

Hi grapefruit, I hope you aren't reading my replies as being a naysayer, I am intending quite the opposite. I am saying that it should be fixable by simply strengthening the muscles with kegels. That's my experience.
You titled your post "Athletic/ post partum incontinence ", so I assumed you have recently had a baby as well as you are an athlete who is possibly a sprinter. It's very common to have some incontinence while in last trimester and after having a baby. I have read that running can bring on the same from frequently running with a full bladder. It's not the exercise/running itself that causes the incontinence, it's the pressure of the full bladder pushing down while running, which is why pregnancy and childbirth cause it.
I have had 2 children through natural childbirth and used to be a high distance runner. I still occasionally run, but have gravitated to long distance walking to save my knees from all that pounding. I did NOT develop any incontinence from all my running (60 - 70 miles a week in my marathon and 10 km race days). I did from having babies, hence have done kegels and know they work. I'm 61.

 

[miffybunny]

I had a traumatic childbirth with my first son that left me totally incontinent. I now have a sling. I'm not athletic at all so I don't know what would happen if I was, but my everyday life is not affected at all. Most women I know who have children have some amount of bladder weakness. It sounds to me like there's a huge psychological overlay creating symptoms for you. I don't know how old you are or how many pregnancies you have had, but those are factors, I find it hard to believe running and sprinting would cause those symptoms. Have you seen a Uro-gynecologist? Another bladder issue I had many years ago was Interstitial Cystitis which was absolutely TMS (urgency and spasms). You mention prolapse which indicates that you are catastrophising and freaking out, which of course will trigger your brain and put you in fight or flight. Prolapses are really rare and not something you do not need to worry about. The bottom line is that your fear and anxiety around your bladder, is the real issue. Definitely consult with a uro gynecologist who can rule out the structural and explain the leakage. It may just be a matter of Kegel exercises and typical issues women have after childbirth, that are slightly annoying but not debilitating.

 

[Dorado]

One of my teammates on a sports league back in the day had serious shin splints. TMS totally played a role - stress clearly made it worse and there were days when none of the casts were necessary. One person privately commented on this, but the rest of us simply stayed silent.

I can’t say I’ve dealt with bladder prolapse issues, but I have had general bladder issues that were totally stress related. TMS has a track record of affecting just about everything. How are you managing emotions on a daily? How do the symptoms fluctuate?

 

[TrustIt]

Have you been doing your kegel exercises? You also say you're post partum. As long as you do them property and consistently they work wonders for women. As far as tms goes, a feeling of urgency to go is typical tms, but sounds like you have the typical weakened muscles after child birth and years of running.

i am dealing with the possibility of the same thing and keep hearing that kegel exercises are not good for it. there are many exercises that are similar on YT. having said that, i don't know either if i have anything prolapsed. i get up sometimes 3 times in the night to pee. and there is an awful urgency, and b/c of my back, it takes me several minutes to stand and make it to the bathroom! i have been dealing with back pain that could certainly be tms, in fact pretty sure it is, and it has kept me immobile for almost 3 months. that will certainly take it's toll on muscles. my legs are extremely weak and it's hard for me to walk. mostly what i am doing is strengthening muscles with weights, a little at a time, need to build them up so they will support me enough to start my daily walks again. so frustrating to have something that interferes so with life and know that it's most likely primarily the mind doing it! fyi, i am 73 but do not and have never been a runner. walker yes. i have catastrophyzed about it being all sorts of horrible things. dr. google is a terrible diagnostic tool! let's both work on this as tms while strengthening our legs and core muscles.