You've got the info, now no more excuses to "sit out" life!
Let me assume you have read this far because you are incontinent and you are tired of leaks. Whether you are new to incontinence or have been dealing with it for years makes little difference. There is much wisdom behind that saying, "This is the first day of the rest of your life".
We want to repeat here that we are not health-care professionals, and we advise you to take your incontinence issues to your health-care professional. The only purpose of this Primer is to answer your questions when you decide you want to try diapers as your management tool. Whether you choose diapers as a temporary management tool, or a supplementary management tool to be used along with an exercise or a drug therapy program or as a permanent method of dealing with incontinence, this Primer was written to provide information that heretofore we could not otherwise find in one place.
We discussed the serious social non-acceptance of diapers in the "Bum Rap" section. You may have to think long and hard about your feelings concerning wearing diapers. We have tried to convince you it is not a big deal, it amounts mostly to "images in your head", and the benefits of not having leak accidents should outweigh the natural reluctance that all of us have in wearing a diaper past the age of four or so.
While very few health-care professionals will recommend diapers, some practical doctors out there want you exhaust all the possible treatments and have no problem with the use of diapers to maintain your peace of mind and preserve your social acceptability while you explore the various treatment regimens. We think that most other incontinents have come to that conclusion on their own. While following their doctor's regimen, they decide to wear protection for their own peace of mind when out in public.
Those of us who wear and depend on diapers to preserve our secret that we cannot control our wetting have learned a few things along the way, and we had no opportunity to share that experience with others until now. I am keenly aware of that because I attempted to publish a book version of this Primer back in 1990 and was repeatedly rejected because the subject matter was too narrow. The publishers felt there were not enough potential readers to warrant the cost of publishing. Most of us would dispute that assumption, given the number of incontinent folks that we hear about. The web has provided a tremendous new source of information for all of us, and there is, of course, lots of information now on the web. But we feel this is the one place and the one source that ties everything together in one place. It is truly a Primer to get you started with diapers, providing all the basic information you need. This information is provided by a number of incontinents suffering the same problems and struggling with the same issues that are before you. Armed with this basic information you can explore the web and get lots to supplement, although much of it will favor one approach or an other, but you are now in a better position to sort out such information and resolve conflicting testimony on what's good, what works and to apply it judiciously to your own personal situation and needs.
The authors of this Primer are biased toward cloth diapers, no doubt about that. We hope we have made our case for cloth superiority, but we also realize that cloth is not for everybody and never will be. We hope we have given the disposable diaper adequate coverage and provided good, useful and basic information for those who will only wear disposables and never try cloth.
The mission of this Primer is to provide you with information about diapers, which represent only one of many ways to manage incontinence. But diapers provide a way that we feel works, works reliably and works well enough that you have no excuse to sit out life! The worst side effect of incontinence is social withdrawal! We can sympathize with your not wanting to venture out ... to the movies, to a sporting event, to a wedding or off on a trip. You fear an accident. We certainly hope this Primer provides you the information to realize that accidents do NOT have to happen just because you have an incontinence problem. Once you get past the fear of accidents, there is no reason you should not be doing virtually anything and everything you would like to do.
Please remember that you are "not normal" if you do not wear a diaper and leak a puddle onto the floor at the supermarket check-out line. On the other hand, you are completely normal if you wear a diaper and do NOT leak a puddle on the floor at the check out line. Think about it! You probably think it's not normal to have to wear a diaper. We say it's not normal to leak urine on the floor or the furniture or the bed. We wear a diaper so we can BE normal. We can be like everyone else and go where we want and do what we want and not leave wet spots or puddles as reminders of where we have been. Now that's being normal!
We welcome your comments on any topic raised in these chapters. Your experience will assist us in updating information and will provide all our readers with a wider base of experience that we can all profit from. Please post this information on the forum of this website. The editors will periodically update this Primer with your commentaries.
©2005 Incontinence Support Center