Wind incontinence

[startingtopanic1]

I posted this in women's health but only had one reply so thought I'd try here. I'm hoping someone might be able to share their experience (good or bad) to give me an idea about how or if I will ever get better.

I'm 6.5 months on after a forceps delivery and struggling with wind incontinence. Basically if I'm standing or walking I just cannot hold in wind. It's horribly embarrassing and causing me great anxiety. I now avoid social situations and it's making me feel lonely and worried about the future.
I've just had my second appointment with a women's health physio and she thinks my pelvic floor strength has improved slightly (although she wasn't sure at first so I'm not convinced she wasn't just trying to make me feel better).
I've read a few posts where people have said it improved after a few months while I've seen no improvement in nearly 7 months.
Has anyone experienced this? What was the outcome? I'm due to go back to work in March and feel like I'll have to resign if this doesn't get better

What kind of follow up are you having? Are you still breastfeeding? I'm not in the UK, had a 3rd degree tear and ventouse delivery.

Sorry didn't mean to hit send there! Was under the postnatal physio team for about 18 months, they said that they would rate pelvic floor strength on a scale up to 5 and I was a 1 when I first went. However, I wasn't incontinent, but had urgency. I improved considerably but do have some ongoing issues - I would currently have about 5-10 minutes notice to have a bowel movement, and my chid is nearly 2, but I'm fairly 'regular' so its not actually massively impacting on my life. They asked about wind incontinence, and all I can say is I don't really notice it: I think it probably has been an issue but there is no smell or noise particularly so its not a major concern if that makes sense.

In general though I saw a big difference about a year in. I was also told that breastfeeding can effect your oestrogen levels which can have a knock-on effect - I'm still breastfeeding and wouldn't choose to stop because of this, but they said I might notice a slight further improvement when I do.

Keep going with the pelvic floor exercises, but do actually insist on follow up, and get the right referrals. After a year when I was still doing exercises but hadn't improved to the point they would have expected I got a referral for a scan of my bowel and an examination by a consultant: it took about 8 months to see them due to Covid but there was an improvement in that timeframe and they were happy to discharge me. They said there was no reason I wouldn't keep on slowly improving.

If its impacting your life to this level, you need follow up. There are machines you can buy to give electrical pulses that can work the muscles, but all this is best done under a physio. I was worried at various points that I would stay at a certain level and not improve but that hasn't been the case, however do get further engagement if you need to. Its not just about pelvic floor muscles, there can be nerve damage and loss of feeling around the back passage which can be an issue. They'll check for that too. Good luck and don't despair: these are issues that are widespread but not discussed as much as they should be and there is absolutely support there. I think in most people, things resolve within a year but its not always the case and you shouldn't feel you have to change your life because of this.

Thank you so much for replying! I've only been seeing a physio and my first appointments were over the phone due to Covid so I've just had my second in person appointment. I was just hoping to see some improvement really by now. I think I'm doing the exercises better but just have no control whatsoever over wind and it is noisy unfortunately I would probably struggle to wait for a bowel movement too but also am fairly regular and haven't had to hold it for long. I am breastfeeding which I understand can effect it.
I'm beginning to worry about nerve damage but I guess they can't tell when my pelvic floor is so weak.