2023-06-28 10:06:46
Unintentional loss of urine, also known as urinary incontinence, is unpleasant, common and unfortunately still a taboo subject. It mainly affects women. Exactly how many is unclear. Because out of shame, many women do not talk to their doctor about the problem [2,3]. The good news, however, is that there are treatment options.
One of the most recommended is pelvic floor training. But does strengthening the pelvic floor not only help preventively, but also when urinary incontinence already exists?
We went in search of answers from research.
Improvement is probable, the symptoms may disappear
There is a high probability that pelvic floor training can at least improve existing incontinence. Many women can get rid of urinary incontinence altogether. This is shown by the summarized results of previous studies [1]:
With pelvic floor training, 69 out of 100 women experienced at least an improvement in incontinence. In 33 out of 100 women, the incontinence disappeared completely as a result of the training. Without pelvic floor training, incontinence improved in 29 out of 100 women. In 6 out of 100 women, it disappeared completely.
However, because relatively few women took part in the studies, our confidence in the study results is somewhat limited.
Training seems to be even more effective for so-called stress incontinence – the most common form of urinary incontinence in women. Affected people lose urine mainly when coughing, laughing or during physical exertion. With pelvic floor training, this incontinence disappeared in about 50 out of 100 women.
Pelvic floor training is not the same as pelvic floor training…
Some women find it difficult to feel whether they are contracting their pelvic floor correctly. Doctors, physiotherapists or nurses can help to learn the right technique [2].
The research results on pelvic floor training [1] come from studies in which medical professionals instructed the pelvic floor exercises. It is difficult to assess whether similar results can be achieved with pelvic floor courses taught by other people, online offers or training videos.
…and urinary incontinence is not just urinary incontinence
Experts distinguish several forms of urinary incontinence. The most common is stress incontinence. In this form, a weak pelvic floor can not provide sufficient support for the bladder and urethra [4]. It is therefore understandable that strengthening the pelvic floor could be particularly helpful here.
With another type of incontinence, urge incontinence, those affected feel a sudden strong urge to urinate – often followed by urine leakage because the bladder muscles contract uncontrollably [4,5].
Mixed incontinence is characterized by symptoms of both stress and urge incontinence [4,5]. Experts recommend pelvic floor training for all forms of urinary incontinence [2,3].
Information on possible contacts and examinations for urinary incontinence can be found at:
A training program for the bladder too
Depending on the type of incontinence, additional measures and treatments can help. In the case of stress incontinence, for example, this can be a reduction in obesity. Being overweight can increase the risk of stress incontinence [2]. Probably because it puts additional strain on the pelvic floor.
With bladder training, women with urge incontinence can work towards delaying going to the toilet longer and regaining more control over the urge to urinate [2,3]. A good description of how bladder training works can be found at
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