Here’s the tea on how sex can help control the need to pee.
Bladder leakage affects some 25 million Americans — and it can be a major source of embarrassment to those who deal with it.
For women in particular, it can be a lot more common after menopause due to pelvic floor issues. But an expert tells The Post there’s a really fun way to maintain that pelvic strength and stave off accidents.
Why are your more likely to pee your pants after menopause?
Estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, drops significantly during menopause. That decline can lead to thinning and drying of the tissues in the urogenital tract, including the vagina and vulva.
“The bladder is connected to the vagina, so you can get a lot of urinary symptoms, including the urgency and frequency of urination,” said Dr. Susan Loeb-Zeitlin, a gynecologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and the director of the Women’s Midlife Center at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Studies suggest the most common bladder symptoms during menopause include nocturia, or frequent nighttime urination, and incontinence, which is the involuntary loss of urine during activities like coughing, laughing, or exercising.
Loeb-Zeitlin said the decline in estrogen also weakens the pelvic floor muscles that help support the bladder.
But getting it on can keep the pelvic floor strong.
The sex cure
“Orgasms in women strengthen pelvic floor muscles through rhythmic contractions, which help reduce urinary incontinence and promote reproductive health,” Leslie Kenny, founder of Oxford Health Span and co-founder of the Oxford Longevity Project, told The Post.
“Basically, these contractions from orgasms boost pelvic floor function.”
She also argues that doing it without a condom has additional benefits for women, allowing them to absorb spermidine — a compound that activates cell renewal — from their partner.
Spermidine can help seal and tighten the cells in the vaginal wall, which tend to thin and spread apart as a consequence of aging. This seal-up can also help prevent leaks.
“Spermidine inside the vagina helps with the integrity of the vaginal lining. And again, this is a problem for post-menopausal women because there’s so much dryness that the walls lose their integrity,” she said.
For those who do not have regular intercourse or intercourse with a male partner, spermidine supplementation is a viable option.
Kenny also recommends that women experiencing incontinence use red light wands, which strengthen the pelvic floor with a combination of thermal heat, vibration, and the light from red and infrared LEDs.
And sex is equally good for the body and mind.
“Frequent orgasm reduces stress and raises immunoglobulin; sex is great for cardiovascular function, and intimate touch offers pain relief.”
