Page Header Page Content Page Footer
For a better experience on always.com, please enable JavaScript in your browser.
  • Part of the P&G Family
  • P&G Good Everyday
  • Tampax
  • Always Discreet
United English
close
Please select a location
  • Asia
  • Chinese Mainland – Greater China
  • Hongkong SAR – Greater China
  • India
  • 日本
  • 대한민국
  • Philippines
  • Taiwan – Greater China
  • Europe
  • Deutschland
  • France
  • Portugal
  • Россия
  • Spain
  • Türkiye
  • United Kingdom
  • North America
  • Canada (English)
  • Canada (Français)
  • México
  • USA (English)
  • South America
  • Brasil
  • Africa
  • Republic of South Africa
  • Kenya
  • Egypt
contact us
sign in   register
Signing out
Do you want to continue? Continue
Always
Search
  • Shop Products
    • Menstrual Pads
      • Menstrual Pads
      • Infinity Pads with FlexFoam
      • Pure Cotton Pads with FlexFoam
      • Radiant Pads
      • Special Pads for Teens
      • Ultra Thin Pads
      • Maxi Pads
      • Overnight Pads
      • Pure Pads
      • All Pads
    • Daily Liners & Wipes
      • Daily Liners
      • Regular Liners
      • Thin Liners
      • Long Liners
      • All Liners
      • All Wipes
    • Period Underwear
      • Always ZZZ Disposable Overnight Period Underwear for Women
      • Period Underwear
    • Bladder Leak Protection
      • Bladder Leak Protection
      • Leaks can't stop you now! Find Liners, Pads and Underwear for sensitive bladders at AlwaysDiscreet.com
      • Shop Always Discreet >
    • Shop all products >
  • About Us
    • We Care About Your Safety
      • We Care About Your Safety
      • What’s in an Always pad?
      • What’s in an Always panty liner?
      • Your Questions, Our Answers
    • We Care About the Environment
      • We Care About the Environment
      • Sustainable Manufacturing
      • You Can Help: Tips for Proper Disposal
    • We Care About All Women & Girls
      • We Care About All Women & Girls
      • Empowering through Puberty Education
      • Our Epic Battle #LikeAGirl
      • Helping #EndPeriodPoverty
      • Helping Girls Around The World
      • Always COVID-19 Response
      • Period Protection covered by FSA and HSA
    • Learn about all of Always's sustainability efforts here >
  • Tips & Advice
      • Choosing a Pad
      • Your (First) Period
      • Puberty 101
      • Parents & Carers
      • "The Talk"
      • Pregnancy
      • Feeling Fresh Every Day
      • A Sensitive Bladder
      • See all tips & advice
    • See all tips & advice
  • Period Calculator
      • Use our period calculator
  • Rewards & Offers
  • Home //
  • Tips & Advice //
  • A Sensitive Bladder //
  • Why Menopause Can Mean Incontinence
Print

Why Menopause Can Mean Incontinence

Menopause and incontinence can go hand in hand. You’re probably wondering how menopause can cause bladder leaks? Here’s the answer.

Recommended 20 Times Recommend
Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter

YOU'RE ABOUT TO LEAVE ALWAYS

Before you go, you should know: The site where you're going may have different privacy practices than P&G. You may want to look at their policies.

Any personal info you provide on the other site will be managed by their privacy policy.

Share on

EmailShare

SHARE THIS IN AN EMAIL

Why Menopause Can Mean Incontinence

There are (#) errors on this page.
Email Service Unavailable
   
   
   
   
Send
Cancel

WE SENT YOUR EMAIL!

Your friend should get it any second.

Back to Always.com >

Menopause is a big time of change in every woman’s life. One thing you may notice is more difficulty with bladder control. Urinary incontinence is a common issue for menopausal women. It can be embarrassing and interfere with work, your social life and your sexual relationship.

What’s most important to know is that urinary incontinence can be cured, treated or at least better managed. What you don’t want to do is ignore the problem, as it rarely goes away on its own and may even get worse over time. Instead, educate yourself about why you may be experiencing urinary incontinence. Here are the symptoms, some reasons it happens and what you can do about urinary incontinence.

Symptoms of menopausal incontinence

Are you experiencing these common signs of a menopausal sensitive bladder?

  • Leaking urine when you cough, sneeze or exercise
  • Leaking urine on the way to the restroom
  • Waking up more than twice at night to urinate
  • Frequent urinary tract infections
Common causes of a menopausal sensitive bladder

Here are some of the reasons why you may be experiencing urinary incontinence during menopause.

Weak pelvic floor muscles. During menopause, your pelvic floor muscles tend to weaken naturally. Weaker muscles can mean less bladder control and a more frequent urge to visit the bathroom.

Prolapse. A prolapse is a sagging down of organs against the pelvic floor. Some women who have prolapse describe a feeling of a lump in the vagina where an organ is sagging down. That organ may be the uterus, bladder or bowel. Prolapse strains your pelvic floor.

Less bladder elasticity. The base of your bladder can lose elasticity and have trouble stretching to accommodate your bladder as it fills. As a result, your bladder is irritated as it fills, causing an “overactive bladder” sensation that makes you feel like you have to go more frequently.

Estrogen depletion. With the onset of menopause, estrogen is no longer produced by your body. When this happens, your body is more susceptible to incontinence because your estrogen that helped keep the tissues around your bladder strong and working well is no longer present.

Weight gain. Many menopausal women tend to gain weight as a result of the changes happening in their bodies. Since your pelvic floor muscles support much of your body weight, any excess weight further strains these muscles, so they cannot support your bladder as they should. This is called stress incontinence.

Managing your Urinary Incontinence

A great first step is strengthening your pelvic floor muscles with pelvic muscle contraction exercises. Try your best to stay around your normal healthy weight. And guard against urinary tract infections by keeping up on personal hygiene, wiping front to back and drinking fluids regularly. You can also ask your doctor about bladder training or surgeries to treat prolapse and other underlying conditions that make your bladder sensitive.

To feel help confident and fresh even as leaks happen, try new Always Discreet liners, Always Discreet pads, and Always Discreet Underwear. They offer amazing sensitive bladder protection. The liners and pads have a thin and flexible design for light to moderate protection and the underwear have double LeakGuards™ to help stop leaks where they happen most.

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

  • Always Ultra Thin Size 5 Extra Heavy Overnight Pads With Wings, Unscented

    Always Ultra Thin Size 5 Extra Heavy Overnight Pads With Wings, Unscented

    Star Rating
    ( 545 )
  • Always Xtra Protect Extra Long Daily Liners

    Always Xtra Protection Daily Liners, Extra Long

    Star Rating
    ( 91 )
  • Always Maxi Size 2 Long Super Pads Without Wings, Unscented

    Always Maxi Size 2 Long Super Pads Without Wings, Unscented

    Star Rating
    ( 124 )

RELATED ARTICLES

5 Myths About Urinary Incontinence

Living Well With a Sensitive Bladder

How to Talk to Your Partner About Bladder Sensitivity

Always Discreet is FSA-Qualified

Keep it Discreet

Learn More >
  • CONNECT WITH US
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SHOP MENSTRUAL PADS
  • Infinity Pads with FlexFoam
  • Ultra Thin Pads
  • Maxi Pads
  • Overnight Pads
  • Special Pads for Teens
  • Pure Pads
  • SHOP DAILY LINERS
  • Regular Liners
  • Thin Liners
  • Thong Liners
  • Long Liners
  • Special Liners for Teens
  • SHOP ALWAYS WIPES
  • Always Feminine Wipes
  • Always Radiant Wipes
  • MORE
  • Tips & Advice
  • Period Calculator
  • Offers
  • ABOUT US
  • We Care About Your Safety
  • We Care About the Environment
  • We Care About All Women & Girls
  • HELP & SUPPORT
  • Contact Us
  • Smartlabel For ingredients and more, select a product.
  • Related P&G Products:
  • P&G Everyday
  • |
  • Tampax
  • |
  • Always Discreet
    • BBB
  • Privacy
  • CA Privacy
  • Careers
  • Site Map
  • AdChoices Ad Choices
  • Terms & Conditions
  • © 2021 Procter & Gamble
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
close

close