Why do I Pee When I Sneeze?

Mar 20

The dreaded sneeze pee!

Have you ever sneezed and noticed a little leak? Or.....maybe more than a little? Although this happen to many women, it isn't something that you have to just deal with!

Many think it is something that only happens to women after they've had babies, however, it can be at any stage in life.

Why Do I Pee When I Sneeze?

Peeing with sneezing is a symptom of stress incontinence-- or peeing when the bladder is under sudden pressure. There can be several reasons why someone may leak when they sneeze. It can be due to weak pelvic floor muscles, tight pelvic floor muscles, core weakness and changes in hormones.

Did you know that some studies show that as many as 1/3 of women over age 35 have stress incontinence and that number raises to 1/2 of women over 65 years old?

Strategies for to reduce peeing when you sneeze

Peeing when sneezing can be embarrassing, especially if you aren't at home. If you find your self in this situation, here are some strategies to try:

The knack -- This is a pre-engagement of the pelvic floor muscles to help counter the intraabdominal pressure that happens when we sneeze (or cough, laugh, vomit, etc). Check out this post here where I talk more about what the knack is and how to do it!

Counter Pressure -- If you know a cough or sneeze is coming, sitting can provide counter pressure to the pelvic floor muscles and support them with the increase in intraabdominal pressure.

Bending at the waist-- Again, this helps to off load some of the direct pressure down on the bladder. Your pelvis may also help to support your bladder in this position. Check out this post where I show what that looks like!

How pelvic floor therapy addresses the sneeze pee

Of course, these are temporary solutions and don't really get to the root cause of the problem! Many women are unaware that pelvic floor therapy can help reduce or eliminate stress incontinence!

A pelvic floor therapy evaluation can help to figure out what is going on with your pelvic floor muscles -- (do they need strengthening or relaxing?!), find any underlying issues (weak hips, weak core, etc) and provide a plan to get you coughing, laughing, sneezing, running, jumping--whatever your goals are-- without fear of leaking!!