Incontinence: The secret suffering of young female athletes

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Incontinence is a taboo subject. But one thinks primarily of older people. In fact, young women who participate in competitive sports are also often affected. Muscle-sapping underweight and strenuous sports weaken the pelvic floor muscles. But there is a lot that can be done about it.

“In some sports, the rate of those who suffer is up to eighty percent,” explains Prof. Birgit Schulte-Frei from the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences. Most young women felt too ashamed to talk about it.

Problems with ball sports

Sports with many jumping elements are particularly problematic: athletics, volleyball, handball or basketball. It becomes critical with hard training and simultaneous neglect of the pelvic floor muscles.

“Basically, the hard ground is not the problem in these sports. The impact sets important stimuli for the development of the muscles. That is why you see jogging, which was previously frowned upon, in a different, more positive light, ”says Schulte-Frei.

Trampoline is poison

Most of the people are affected when jumping on a trampoline: The soft, yielding surface is poison for the pelvic floor muscles. In addition, being severely underweight weakens the pelvic floor muscles. Dancers, gymnasts and ice skaters often go hungry to look good. In connection with high biomechanical loads, incontinence is then a frequent consequence.

Strengthen the pelvic floor in a targeted manner

Targeted exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles can help competitive and high-performance athletes. Adding the exercises to the usually jam-packed training plan can be difficult - this is also clear to the researcher. However, current studies indicate that these special training courses could increase general athletic performance.

Clarification required

The scientist calls for clarification - in addition to the parents, trainers should also be involved.

“We have to encourage female athletes to address the issue openly. That is possible if we de-dramatize and de-taboo. ”It would not be acceptable for young women to suffer from a solvable problem for several years just because nobody wants to talk about it.

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