What is LBL?

Light Bladder Leakage (LBL) is the involuntary leakage of urine, incontinence, when laughing, sneezing, coughing, exercising, lifting or just standing up and it affects thousands of women everyday.

Though it's not talked about much, it is estimated that a third of all women have this same experience. In a survey conducted by ACTIVV in 2021 60% of respondents experienced light bladder leakage. But with the right diagnosis and treatment, 7 out of 10 women with bladder control problems can experience significant improvement or become completely dry.

The two types of incontinence most common in women are stress incontinence and urge incontinence. 

Stress incontinence is the spontaneous, uncontrolled leakage of small amounts of pee (without any desire to go to the toilet) when you exert yourself ie when coughing, sneezing, straining, lifting, playing sport, or exercising.

Urge incontinence causes a sudden, overwhelming urge to pee. If you can't get to the toilet in time but pee a bit, you have urge incontinence. This is often referred to as an overactive bladder. 

If you are experiencing LBL, you might try the following tips:

  • Reduce coffee, tea, and alcohol intake.

  • Reduce intake of bladder irritants such as fizzy drinks, fruit juices, and artificial sweeteners.

  • Learn the right way to do the correct pelvic floor exercises for you from a Pelvic Health Physiotherapist. Note: Different exercises are used for different conditions and it is important to know which will help you.

  • Once you know the correct pelvic floor exercises for you, do them often – these can strengthen the muscles that empty your bladder. About 7 out of 10 women with stress incontinence can become dry or significantly improve by doing pelvic floor exercises.

Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises

Like any muscle in the body, pelvic floor muscles can be trained with regular, targeted exercise

In almost all cases it’s possible to gain control over the pelvic floor muscles and to train them to do their job well.

Pelvic floor muscle exercises can help with:

  • improving bladder and bowel control

  • reducing the risk of prolapse

  • better recovery from childbirth and surgery

  • increased sexual sensation

  • increased social confidence and quality of life

The first thing you need to do is find out which muscles you need to train. It is very important to correctly identify your pelvic floor muscles before moving into a regular pelvic floor muscle exercise program.

Some women need expert advice to be able to identify their pelvic floor muscles, to create and manage an individual programme. To be sure that you are exercising correctly contact a Pelvic Health Physiotherapist who will design an exercise programme for you - different exercises are used for different conditions and it is important to know which will help you.

If you have a problem with bladder control, it is important to be properly assessed as weak pelvic floor muscles are just one of the many causes of incontinence. Seek help from your doctor or a medical professional.

Source and more info found here:

www.continence.org.nz

www.healthnavigator.org.nz/health-a-z/b/bladder-control-problems-women

www.continence.org.au

 

  • Stress incontinence happens when physical movement or activity — such as coughing, laughing, sneezing, running or heavy lifting — puts pressure (stress) on your bladder, causing you to leak urine.

  • 7 out of 10 women with bladder control problems can experience significant improvement or become completely dry with the right diagnosis and treatment.

  • This is known as stress Incontinence. Pelvic floor muscle strengthening is usually the first line of treatment. If done regularly and correctly over several months, they can help significantly. Some people need expert advice to do these exercises effectively. Both men and women can suffer from stress incontinence although it is more common in women.

  • The pelvic floor muscles span the bottom of the pelvis and support the pelvic organs (bladder and bowel, and uterus (womb). Your pelvic floor muscles help you to control your bladder and bowel and assist with sexual function. It is important to keep pelvic floor muscles strong. When pelvic floor muscles are weakened they can create problems with bladder and bowel control.

  • A common cause of leakage on exercise is pelvic floor muscle weakness and effective pelvic floor exercises should help. Some women need expert advice to be able to manage an individual programme and to be helped to identify the pelvic floor muscles.

  • Reduce coffee, tea and alcohol intake.

    Reduce intake of bladder irritants such as fizzy drinks, fruit juices and artificial sweeteners.

    Learn the right way to do the correct pelvic floor exercises for you from a Pelvic Health Physiotherapist. Note: Different exercises are used for different conditions and it is important to know which will help you.

    Once you know the correct pelvic floor exercises for you, do them often – these can strengthen the muscles that empty your bladder.

    About 7 out of 10 women with stress incontinence can become dry or significantly improve by doing the right pelvic floor exercises for them.

  • No it is caused by physical stress such as coughing, sneezing, lifting, running etc. It has nothing to do with mental stress. If the pressure rise inside your abdomen which occurs with these activities is greater than the pressure keeping your bladder outlet closed, leakage occurs.

  • It may be that your problem will not be fixed through pelvic floor exercises, but it is also possible that you are not doing them correctly. To be sure that you are exercising correctly contact a Pelvic Health Physiotherapist who will design an exercise programme for you.