Dealing with bladder leakage

I suffer from an embarrassing problem. I have urine leakage when I cough, sneeze, laugh, or exercise.

It is not complete letting go of the bladder, just a small leakage, but sometimes more than that. I am 34 years old and have had two children by natural birth. Are there any remedies I can take which will stop this leakage from happening?

>> You are not alone — urinary incontinence is a very common problem. There are herbal remedies which can help to tone the bladder and will go some way towards dealing with this issue, however the best results are when you use a combination of specific physical exercises, herbs, and a dietary detox.

Many people believe that pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) and urinary incontinence are caused by long labours, traumatic births, and birthing multiple or large babies. While all of these situations can contribute to weakening of the pelvic floor, they are not the primary cause. PFD and urinary incontinence affect women who have never given birth, and men as well.

Before you start in on the widely known Kegel’s exercises for pelvic floor strength, I suggest that you perform squats instead.

One of the best resources I have found addressing this issue is biomechanist Katy Bowman’s website www.katysays.com. She discusses how the pelvic floor muscle is designed to have continuous electrical flow based on the correct usage of lower limbs and muscles in the trunk, and suggests that years of mal-alignment and incorrect lower leg muscle development are robbing the pelvic floor of the space and support it requires to maintain a healthy tension.

Kegel exercises simply make the pelvic floor muscle tighter, which ends up creating weakness rather than strength and flexibility.

In Bowman’s words: “A Kegel attempts to strengthen the PF [pelvic floor], but it really only continues to pull the sacrum inward promoting even more weakness, and more PF gripping.”

Bowman’s advice is practical, informative, and fun — her website is an excellent resource. I would recommend her DVD, Down There for Women, to all women who have issues with their pelvic floor, incontinence, menstrual cramping, post-birth trauma (vaginal or caesarean), sexual dysfunction, and/or hip and sacral issues.

(www.alignedandwell.com/shop/down-there-for-women).

Bowman also has a range of DVDs addressing issues in almost every part of the body for men and women, including a Below The Belt for Men DVD which addresses incontinence, pelvic floor, prostate, hip/sacral, and sexual dysfunction issues in men.

Uva ursi would typically be my top recommendation as a herb to help with bladder tone, but it has been confined to a prescription-only status, so is not so easy to track down.

Other herbs I use successfully to help restore bladder health and address urinary incontinence are parsley root, juniper berries, marshmallow root, and gravel root. A combination or any one of these herbs will help in your case.

Removing or reducing inflammatory foods — such as fast foods, deep- fried and highly processed foods, refined sugars and grains — will help your muscles and organs to function more effectively, and help the urethral sphincter muscle to closie off the bladder properly.