Stress incontinence advice please

[Veejaycee]

Hi, and thank you for reading this. My daughter is 13 with urinary stress incontinence when she laughs or exercises. Over a few years we have seen paediatric doctors, urologists, accupuncture, kinesiologists. She tried medication, tetrolodine I think it was called but no luck. Scans and tests showed bladder to be normal, but she has got a duplex kidney - 2 tubes as well but I’m told this isn’t connected.

It’s really impacting her life especially as she gets older - pads are not enough to hold the flow so she regularly has accidents and has to get changed.

Does anyone have any advice? Thank you xx

[annarobish]

Hi, bedwetting is the main thing I have a problem with - but I do have some problems with giggle inco.... when we go on long trips or big events (weddings etc) I wear protection... used to use larger nappies when I was a bit younger (pampers 7) - drynites couldn't cope - now I use tena slip junior / abri form junior. Hope that helps x

[Slice]

That's a tough one, especially at that age. How is she doing now? I have heard of dealing with similar problems from other forums (now gone) but if pads are no longer enough, it's time for heavier protection . Perhaps something like the Sillouttes underwear, but whether she's big enough to wear them, or whether they will hold enough are the questions. I doubt that she will need to go to the extreme of ATN diapers, but perhaps something like Drynites, or something similar you can get on line that would be plain white is a possibility. One thing to note that if she has started menstruating she should not be using sanitary napkins, period pads. or what ever term you choose, inside what ever she is using for her bladder issues as the pads will almost certainly interfere with the bladder protection and cause it to leak. Another thing is has she been taught any exercises that would strengthen the muscles that control her bladder? Other things to consider are a change in habits and routines so that she is checking her situation frequently enough to change. The other thing is to change her clothing style so that she can wear things like Drynites under her clothes and make it less obvious what she's wearing under them. And the last, maybe the hardest. She needs friends that know of her situation and that she does need the extra help with protection. With that support from her friends, she won't feel so alone and different in this. Classic problem: She doesn't want others to know because they will make fun of her. It's one way to find out who her real friends are. Not only that but she's less likely to have trouble with others if they see that there are others who accept her as is. One other thought that you don't mention is whether she has been evaluated by a neurologist. Could she have nerve damage in her lower spine? Perhaps spina bifida occulta. I don't know a lot about some of these things, but it seems that you are talking about leakage that's more than typical stress incontinence.