I was doing some research on peri-menopause this morning, went to WebMD to look up the symptoms of peri-menopause, and found that urine leakage with coughing or sneezing was listed as one of the symptoms. đ¤
Seeing it listed as a symptom of peri-menopause makes it seem that itâs normal. If you are going through this time of your life, you should just expect to deal with incontinence? đ¤ˇââď¸
â IT IS NOT NORMAL â (Did the all-caps make you feel like I was yelling? I am yelling!) It is common, but itâs not normal. Let me explain why.
During menopause and peri-menopause your body produces less estrogen. It helps to keep your vaginal tissues âfluffy.â This fluffiness makes it easier for the muscles to close off the urethra.
So what happens if you have less estrogen? The tissue becomes thinner and drier. Now the muscles have to work harder to close the urethra.
If you had any issues with your muscles before peri-menopause, now the issues become more apparent. The fluffy tissue isnât there to help you out anymore. So it will appear that incontinence happens as a result of peri-menopause and a decrease in estrogen. In actuality, you may have had a pelvic floor muscle issue for years, losing the estrogen just doesnât let you cheat anymore. Does this make sense?
Thinking of incontinence as a normal sign of aging implies that you canât do anything about it. But that couldnât be farther from the truth. Incontinence is often easily treatable.
Do you have questions about normal aging and the pelvic floor? Feel free to message me. đ
