Can having too much sex cause SUI? What about drinking too much water during the day? If you experience stress at the workplace, will that cause you to have stress urinary incontinence?

Surprisingly, many women don’t know the answers to these questions—even women who currently have SUI. There are quite a few “old wives’ tales” about this condition floating around out there. Many women continue to believe them because, as it turns out, urinary incontinence is less understood than conditions like allergies or diabetes.

Beliefs About SUI – True or False?
What do you believe? Here are some statements about SUI that the National Association for Continence used to survey women’s beliefs about this condition. See if you can tell whether these statements are true or false.

Drinking a lot of liquids puts a woman at risk for SUI.
False. Forty-two percent of women believe this myth. In fact, drinking too little liquid can actually worsen symptoms of urinary incontinence. A better option would be to focus on strengthening your pelvic floor muscles to prevent leakage, and modifying certain aspects of your lifestyle. This may include bladder retraining and timing your fluid intake.

Feeling stressed at home or in the office is a risk factor for SUI.
False. Over one-quarter of the women surveyed believe this myth. Actually, the “stress” part of SUI means that you leak urine when you put stress on your abdominal cavity, such as when you cough or sneeze.

The average age of women when they first experience symptoms of SUI is 44.
True. In fact 40% of women first experience SUI symptoms even before they are 40, and 23% had symptoms before they were 30. Despite these statistics, over half those surveyed believe that the average age at which women experience SUI symptoms is 50 and over. This reflects the myth that SUI is a sign of aging.

Having too much sex puts a woman at risk for SUI.
False. Women ages 25-34 are most likely to believe this myth (29% of them do), while 20% of women ages 18-24 also believe it. In reality, a healthy active sex life that encourages you to exercise your pelvic floor muscles reduces the risk of SUI.

How Did You Score?
Were you able to tell which statements above were myths and which were true? Do you want to learn more about SUI and other forms of urinary incontinence? Stay tuned for our next blog post, in which we debunk yet more myths about this subject. Also, you can learn more about pelvic floor health by visiting the Wet Matters website:

Is This You?
How the Story Ends