Leaking bladder when running

[Happytot]

Hi, I have been running with a years now nothing competitive just for my own enjoyment. I run about 20/30k per week. However, since Christmas every time I run my bladder leaks. I have read on line that running over time can do serious damage to your pelvic floor and if you leak you shouldn't run. I have made an appointment with GP but won't be for a few weeks. Just wondering has anyone had this and just ran through it or should I stop until my pelvic strength has improved? Can this be fixed or will I eventually have to give up running? Any tips and advice greatly appreciated.

What pelvic floor exercises are you currently doing?

Double it, whilst you're waiting for GP appt.

If you can afford it, consider going straight to a physio who specialises in this. Bespoke exercises (and checks you're doing them properly) may well be needed

Running doesn't really wreck your pelvic floor, but it will show up any weakness quite ruthlessly.

Not me but a friend did. She saw a specialist women's physio (not sure what the exact term is here!) and she's all good now. Back to marathons.

Thanks for your replies. I will double up on my squats and kegals. I will see if I find a women's health physio. So happy to hear your friend is back running marathons. Gives me hope!

Happened to me - saw a women's physio, got some good pelvic floor exercises and started also using these egg-type weights for 5 mins a day.
Now also back to running marathons with no issues at all.

Another thing that may have occurred is that your overall core strength may have increased. As the pelvic floor is part of your deep core, you may be engaging the wrong muscles and overcompensating with your stronger abdominal and hip muscles rather than engaging your pelvic floor. This happened to me when I took up rebounding. At first I had no issues whatsoever, then I had slight accidents and the tighter I 'clenched' to stop and wee, the more I lost control. If this is the issue, them main way to help is belly breathing. Breath into your belly, then lift your pelvic floor, this stops the overcompensation from the other core muscles and properly engages the pelvic floor.

It was pretty much an instantaneous fix. I don't do a safety pee before trampolining anymore and I drink huge amounts of water as needed. Unless I really need to go, I just hop on and jump for however long I want with no issues. Just making sure to breathe into my belly.

This may not be your problem but it's fairly common with women who exercise a lot, so it's well worth giving a go. If it doesn't work for you, then at least you've ruled out one cause. If it does work for you, then you've fixed something that feels like a huge problem in minutes.