Why do I keep peeing my pants?

Imagine walking around and not having control of your bladder function and peeing few drops or totally wetting your pants. Maybe you’ve experienced going for a walk and having to wear a pad. Or maybe every time you laugh or sneeze you pee a little bit. Or maybe you are going to the bathroom a billion times a day and it’s running your life. This does not have to continue to be your story. There is hope and help for you to regain control of your life and keep your pants dry. 

An impactful function of the pelvic floor is to help us to pee when we want to and prevent leakage when we don’t want to. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that act like a trampoline within our pelvis and help to prevent us from leaving a puddle on the floor.

Two types of urinary incontinence:

There are two types of urinary incontinence: stress incontinence and urge incontinence. Stress incontinence is when the pressure in your pelvic floor exceeds the amount of pressure that your urethral sphincter (the muscle that holds back pee) can hold.The second type of urinary incontinence is urge incontinence. This can be caused by irritation to your bladder. Do you know that there are specific foods and drinks that can cause irritation to the bladder? Some of these include: coffee, tea, carbonated drinks, alcohol, acidic fruits (oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, juices), spicy foods, tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine. These things can cause bladder irritation that can increase frequency of peeing, bladder spasms, or even bladder pain. We will often begin to track what we are eating and drinking and our bathroom habits using a bladder diary to identify patterns within our bodies. 

What can we do about it?

The goal of treating your urinary leakage is to first identify the type of incontinence and then what is causing your symptoms. As trained pelvic floor physical therapists, we take an indepth look at all of the things that contribute to the health and wellness of your bladder and pelvic floor. We will first look at your posture - are your ribcage and pelvis aligned or is there misalignment that is interfering with good feedback to the pelvic floor. We will also address breathing. Are you taking short, shallow breaths in your neck/shoulders or is your breath in a 360 degree pattern through your belly/sides/back? For urge incontinence we will use specific strategies such as distraction, pelvic floor contractions, heel/toe rocks, eliminating bladder irritants, etc. For stress incontinence we will address your pelvic floor strength and endurance. Prior to a sneeze or cough using the technique called “the knack” can also be very useful. “The knack” consists of performing a kegel prior to sneezing or coughing, closing off that external urethral sphincter and allowing you to hold back urine. 

In summary, there is HOPE! You are not alone and there are answers to your question, ‘How can I stop peeing my pants?’ Please reach out if you have further questions with your unique situation. 

All my best, 

Dr. Kara