During menopause, women can experience a range of symptoms, one of which many women experience is urine leakage. Urine leakage can occur in a variety of situations, whether laughing, jumping, sneezing or coughing.
Changes in urine odour during menopause
Another consequence of lower oestrogen levels is that the mucous membranes in the vagina become dryer, more fragile and less elastic. The pH of the vagina changes and becomes less sour, making the vagina more vulnerable to harmful bacteria. These bacteria can cause your urine to smell bad. Sometimes the smell of pee is compared to an ammonia-like odour.
Why do you need to pee more often during menopause?
The decrease in oestrogen levels is also the reason why many women feel the need to pee extra during menopause. As mentioned earlier, the muscles in the pelvic floor can become weaker, making it harder to hold back from leaking urine. It is common to feel an extra urge to pee during the night, as you may have to wake up several times to get up and pee. As you are more vulnerable towards urinary tract infections during menopause, you may also need to pee more often.
Bladder weakness during menopause
So why does urine leaks happen? During menopause, the production of the hormone oestrogen decreases. This can cause the tissues and muscles of the pelvic floor around the bladder and urethra to weaken and become less strong. This can result in involuntary leakages of urine under various forms of abdominal pressure. Urine leaks are also common at other stages of life, such as during pregnancy, neurological disorders, excessive alcohol consumption or urinary tract infections.
What can be done about bladder leaks?
There is a wide range of solutions for urine leakages, here are a few examples:
- Doing pelvic floor exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor.
- Using incontinence support devices, such as the Efemia Bladder Support, which can prevent urine leakage immediately.
- There are medicines that can help by blocking nerve impulses from the brain, causing the bladder to contract. However, as with all medicines, there may be side effects.
- Pads that are placed in the panties to soak up urine leaks.