www.incontinentsupport.org

Hi everybody,

My wife has occasional very small wetting accidents when she coughs. Does anyone know if this will likely get worse, and if so, how?

Thanks,
Seattletown

Has she had children? Stress incontinence when coughing, sneezing, etc can be caused by weak pelvic floor muscles. The muscles become weaker though stressful ordeals such as child birth. She can tone the muscles and strengthen them by doing Kegel exercises. You can google how to do these. Her doctor can also show her how, such as a urogynecologist. If she does nothing to improve it, the muscles may get weaker over time. Especially if she has more children. I don't know how old your wife is. I'm just saying the childbirth is a leading cause of stress incon in women. But the good news is, it can be corrected. It just takes time.

My wife has had two children naturally. She also has stress incon. She has found dramatic improvements in doing her Kegels. She was completely urine incon after the birth of my first child. He was 10 lbs 3 oz at birth. Big healthy boy! But she damaged her pelvic floor giving birth to him. It has gotten much better with the kegels though. Have her try it and see if things don't improve.