There are things that annoy pelvic floor physios – or at least this one! It’s rant time – most of the time I’m polite and restrained (ok, that restrained bit might be pushing it!) but there are times when it’s time to stand up and make some noise.
TV and magazine ad’s that tell you to just ‘slap on a pad’ and continue with your life/activities. No – don’t do this, go and see a pelvic floor physio and get treatment please: over 80% success rate with physiotherapy can’t be argued with. Don’t just put a band-aid on it (i.e., a incontinence pad), get some help to stop the leaking in the first place. I’ve no problem with using incontinence pads when needed, but please get help before just resorting to using pads instead of gaining continence with treatment
LBL – “light bladder leakage” – wording invented by the marketing people in companies that produce incontinence pads. Nowhere else is urinary incontinence called this – in fact its taken decades for medical professionals around the world to become unified on terms to use for urinary continence and now that everyone has agreed, the marketing people of these companies come up with a completely incorrect term for describing stress incontinence. Let’s call it what it is, reduce the confusion for everyone, and keep the marketing people out of the loop.
Patients being ignored or being made to feel embarrassed when telling medical professionals about their pelvic floor problems and then feeling like no one can help them or cares. It’s very frustrating when I hear stories of this from my patients and I really feel for them. My advice – keep trying, keep telling your story and keep asking for help – you will get there and help is out there for you – never give up.
Until next time…