Why Do I Pee When I Cough?

You sneeze, let loose a laugh or cough and a little pee comes out, too. It's a familiar experience for many women. It can happen to men, too. This blog post will cover what it is and what you can do about it.

Why Does It Happen?

When you cough, you put pressure on your bladder. Your pelvic floor muscles help hold up your bladder. If those muscles are not strong enough, they don't fully close your urethra, which holds in your pee. With an open urethra, pee leaks out.

The longer medical term is stress urinary incontinence. By "stress," the term means physical pressure, not emotional.

What Makes Your Pelvic Muscles Weaker?

Here are the most common reasons for weakened pelvic muscles:

• Pregnancy
• Being overweight
• Menopause
• Straining
• Constant coughing
• Pelvic surgery

In terms of surgery, for women it is often a hysterectomy. For men, it's prostate surgery. These surgeries can damage or weaken your pelvic muscles. Straining can happen during weight lifting or constipation.

What You Can Do

You don't have to "just live with it." There are some things you can do that might help. Even better, you can do most of them at home.

• Bladder-friendly habits. Reduce caffeine, limit alcohol and treat constipation.
• Pelvic floor exercise. You can do Kegels, an exercise that can help strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Many people see results in a few weeks or months.
• Lose weight. Managing your weight puts less pressure on your bladder and, therefore, your pelvic muscles.
• Medical options. Surgery, medications or a small, removable device called a pessary can also help.

Your urology provider can work with you to create a treatment plan that meets your specific needs.

When to Reach Out

It's often a good idea to see a urologist if your symptoms get worse, cause pain, get in the way of your daily life or start right after surgery. You can also see your provider if peeing when you cough or laugh gets in the way of your daily life. That can happen if you avoid social events, exercise or sex because of leaks.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your Baptist Health urologist. If you do not have a urologist, you can find one on our provider directory.