Urinary Incontinence is a medical term that will affect nearly everyone at some point in their lives. It refers to the involuntary loss of urine and can be caused by natural factors such as aging and childbirth, but can frequently be caused by pelvic surgeries, trauma, bladder issues, cancer, and treatments for some of these conditions. It can affect both men and women of all ages, even though it’s not as common in younger individuals. The bottom line is that there are many reasons why incontinence happens, and no one should feel ashamed or embarrassed, the stigma needs to be broken by talking about it openly.
In order to break the stigma, we need to look at why it’s an embarrassing subject. Most men and women have a lack of products to turn to, and so resort to adult diapers or pads that are very expensive over time, uncomfortable, and embarrassing to dispose of. This can lead to shame for relying on these products, or even denial that they are necessary. Incontinence does affect women more than men, but that doesn’t mean that the stigma is less for men. In fact, it can be worse knowing that men have a lack of products directed towards them, on top of already being embarrassed to admit that there’s a problem.Â
Another factor that plays into the stigma is feeling like your body is giving up on you because of the incontinence, and not being interested in the things that used to make you happy. Whether that be exercising, meeting up with friends, or simply living life to the fullest, symptoms and a lack of control over them makes it hard to enjoy daily life. This is where owning your symptoms, and sharing your story play a part in reclaiming the life you once lived. For something that’s so common, it’s easy to feel alone dealing with these symptoms. That’s why it’s important to start talking about incontinence, and to be honest about the feelings and emotions that come with it.
We’re all human beings, and that is a universal thing. Instead of allowing symptoms to get you down, we should be using them to build ourselves back up! Talking about the incontinence issues faced on a daily basis can help to humanize the problem, allow you to connect with others that face similar symptoms and find better management solutions. Incontinence affects everybody differently, but that doesn’t mean we can’t connect and share our stories to start building an open and more inclusive environment surrounding the diagnosis.Â
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