While leaking is common, seeking care for leaking with your doctor is not.  We know most women have bothersome leaking for more than 7 years before they seek medical help.  So why aren’t you going to the doctor for your leaking?

A recent study asked 51,000+ women if they had bothersome leaking and if they had talked to their primary health care provider about it.  They found that 16.4% of the women had bothersome leaking but more than 65% had not discussed it with their provider.  The percent of women who had discussed it with their doctor varied by the type of leaking.  Women with stress incontinence were less likely to discuss it than women with urgency incontinence.

These researchers dug a little deeper and asked more questions about why women weren’t seeking healthcare for their leaking.  The most common reasons were:

• Being too embarrassed
• Being too busy
• Worried about wasting the doctor’s time.

I understand being too busy.  There are lots of things that keep women busy: being a mom, caring for parents, having a job, maintaining the house.  Many of the women I know only take care of their own prroblems after everyone else is ok.   We all have to prioritize what we are going to take care of.  But don’t let “too busy” become an eternal excuse.  Sometimes you have to make the time.

The other two reasons just aren’t reasonable.  There is no reason to be embarrassed.  No one wants to leak, it just happens with life and pregnancies.  So don’t let this be a barrier.  And as a physician, my job is to address the things that bother you.  You aren’t wasting my time.

I really like this study because it is simple and really highlights that women don’t want to discuss leaking.  So it is our job to create an environment where it is comfortable to do so.

Jarbøl, D.E., Haastrup, P.F., Rasmussen, S. et al. Women’s barriers for contacting their general practitioner when bothered by urinary incontinence: a population-based cross-sectional study. BMC Urol 21, 99 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12894-021-00864-x