Incontinence When Sneezing: Why Do I Urinate When I Sneeze?
As soon as the snow melts and the springtime flowers rise, this is usually a sign to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. But if you’ve got seasonal allergies, it marks the time of the year when you lock the doors, pull the blinds, and never leave home again.
Sneezing, coughing, and wheezing are uncomfortable as is. But bladder leakage during these makes it even worse.
What causes urination after sneezing? And what can you do to stop it? Here’s everything you need to know.
What Is Incontinence?
Incontinence is a big fancy word for urine loss. It can be ranked on a scale of mild to severe. Cases of mild incontinence are usually just a few drips and dribbles, especially during strenuous actions like sneezing or lifting. Severe incontinence can be marked by complete loss of bladder control.
Urinary incontinence is one form, but there’s also fecal incontinence which is the inability to control your bowels. While the loss of bowel control can sometimes happen from strenuous activities like sneezing or coughing, urinary incontinence is a bit more common.
Why Do I Pee When I Sneeze?
There are a few different types of incontinence, but the one related to urinating while sneezing is called stress incontinence. This occurs when the bladder experiences stress or pressure.
You have muscles in between your tailbone and groin called your pelvic floor. These muscles are responsible for holding your bladder in and releasing it to urinate. Typically, your pelvic floor tightens until you’re ready to urinate.
However, actions like sneezing cause those muscles to relax for a brief period, which can cause slight urine loss, especially if your pelvic muscles are not as strong as they once were. Other actions like coughing, lifting a heavy object, running, or even just getting up out of a chair can have the same effect on your bladder.
Peeing while sneezing is not normal, but it is fairly common. The good news is that there are solutions for incontinence that are easy and effective.
Risk Factors
Certain behaviors and underlying conditions are likely to put you at a higher risk of developing incontinence while sneezing. For one, pregnancy and childbirth make women more likely to experience incontinence. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect men.
Especially after prostate removal surgery, men can experience stress incontinence even more often. Other risk factors can make someone more likely to develop stress incontinence, like aging, being overweight, having prior pelvic surgery, having a history of low back pain, having underlying medical conditions affecting the bladder, a history of high-impact sports, or having a condition in which you sneeze or cough chronically.
How Can I Deal With Incontinence While Sneezing?
If you leak every time you have the sniffles, you don’t need to feel embarrassed. There are plenty of solutions that can help eliminate embarrassment in no time.
Wear Protection
If you have a couple of drips and dribbles here and there, you shouldn’t need to stop doing what you love completely. And there are plenty of incontinence products on the market.
The problem is that incontinence underwear is usually aimed at women. They’re usually soft, absorbent, flat pads that adhere to the inside of undergarments to catch leaks. And considering the male anatomy isn’t flat, you’ll probably need something a bit more form-fitting.
Male Drip Protection, or MDP, is the solution for dudes with slight bladder loss. It takes all the great things about incontinence pads and bundles them into a small, form-fitting sleeve that perfectly fits your manhood of any shape and size.
With the proprietary two-strap design, you can tighten and loosen the straps throughout the day as necessary, so it’s always the perfect fit. Plus, it uses a cloth-like material that feels comfortable to wear even during runs, games of golf, or lawn-mowing sessions.
And it doesn’t look bulky like most incontinence products, so no one will ever even know you’re wearing it. You can wear MDP with any type of underwear you choose (or none, if that’s your thing).
It’s perfect for catching up to two ounces of fluid, which is plenty if you feel you’re only leaking from sneezing. The best way to see the difference is to feel it for yourself, so try MDP today and get back to doing what you love most without worrying about incontinence.
Take Antihistamines
If sneezing is what’s causing you to pee all over your shorts, then why not try to stop sneezing in the first place? If allergies cause your sniffles, you can take antihistamine medications to reduce your allergy symptoms and try to sneeze a little bit less.
You can even use nasal spray antihistamines to specifically target your nose and try to reduce congestion or runny nose directly. Less sneezing equals less leaking.
Strengthen the Pelvic Floor
A weak pelvic floor might be a major reason you’re unable to hold it all in after sneezing, coughing, or lifting something heavy. So, if you work to add strength back to that pelvic floor, you might be able to have better control of your bladder overall.
Pelvic floor exercises aren’t heavily involved. They’re as easy as squeezing your pelvic floor for a few seconds over 15 minutes. Over time, you can try squeezing for longer periods without stopping to start building more strength.
Avoid Triggers
Certain actions can irritate your bladder and make it harder to hold in your urine. Making small lifestyle changes can go a long way in helping to fight against incontinence.
Smoking can not only increase your risk of developing certain types of cancer, but it can also make you more likely to cough more often. This naturally can make you susceptible to leaking, so cutting back on your cigars and cigarettes can go a long way.
Additionally, caffeinated beverages like coffee and soda can irritate the bladder. Switch to decaf options or try to limit your intake to have a positive influence on your bladder health.
Watch Fluid Intake
Many people will drink fewer fluids if they struggle with incontinence, so they need to go to the bathroom less often, reducing the risk of leakage. While this might sound like it makes sense, it’s actually counterintuitive.
When you don’t drink, your bladder capacity decreases, making it more difficult to hold in. Aim to drink around six to eight glasses of water a day and go to the bathroom when you feel like you need to go.
By practicing the habits above and getting the right amount of fluid intake, you can slowly improve your incontinence symptoms.
When Should I See a Doctor About Incontinence?
Remember that no form of incontinence is necessarily “normal.” By this, we mean that not all adults develop urine loss at some point. With that said, it’s definitely common. Around 11 percent of all men will experience some form of incontinence at some point in their life.
Generally, it’s always good to see a doctor if you have any concerns about anything with your underlying health. However, you should try to see one if your incontinence is so severe that it affects your daily life. If your urine loss prevents you from remaining independent, you should see a professional for extra help.
But for slight incontinence, MDP might be all you need to help you stay dry no matter what life throws at you.
In Conclusion
Peeing a little bit every time you sneeze is a common symptom that older adults experience, but that doesn’t make it any less embarrassing. This form of stress incontinence causes urination when excess pressure is placed on the bladder.
You can work to reduce incontinence by avoiding triggers like smoking and caffeine, strengthening the pelvic floor, and taking medication to stop your sneezing. If nothing works, it might be time to see a professional.
In the meantime, don’t let incontinence stop you from doing what you love most. MDP is on a mission to get guys back to their normal weeks without worrying about bladder leaks. Try it out today.
Sources:
Urinary incontinence - Symptoms and causes | The Mayo Clinic
Stress Incontinence: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment | Cleveland Clinic
Male Urinary Incontinence: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Preventive Interventions | NCBI