Rosie Green in patterned shirt dress on This Morning

I spent £1000s to fix my weak pelvic floor – here's what finally worked

'Fouf filler' changed Rosie Green's life

Second Act columnist

December 6, 2024Dec 6, 2024, 4:30 PM GMT

Do you cross your legs when you sneeze? Avoid trampolines? Worry about going for it on the dance floor? Or doing 'high knees' in an exercise class? Thanks to my weak pelvic floor I do. Actually correction, I did.

I have long suffered from stress incontinence - a little pre-kids, a lot post. I'm not alone. According to research by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 60 per cent of women are in the same boat.

Stress incontinence is characterised by the NHS as, "when urine leaks out when your bladder is under pressure." I was a textbook case and it got me down.

Woman in a short green dress dancing — Rosie Green had to be careful when dancing

Fixing my pelvic floor

I sought solutions. When my yoga instructor told me to engage my pelvic floor I really tried to but, if I'm honest, I didn't really get what she was talking about.

I went to a physio who conducted a test to measure my strength down there (bad, but not terrible) and gave me exercises which I diligently practised.

The effect was minimal, so I tried sitting on the Emsella chair - a device that sends electric pulses up your foufou while you're fully clothed. One half-hour session is apparently the equivalent of 11,000 pelvic floor exercises. That did work well for six months or so, but it's a temporary (and quite expensive) fix.

READ: What a menopause expert wants you to know about bladder weakness

Urethral bulking

A friend told me about urethral bulking and said it had been transformative for her.

It involves injecting a substance (polyacrylamide hydrogel) into the walls of the urethra to create a narrowing at the bladder neck which means your body needs to do less work to keep continence intact.

Woman sitting on a sofa in a white shirt and blue jeans — Rosie looks after her pelvic health

That friend had been to see a man called Professor Doumouchtsis, so I booked a consultation with him. He told me it costs a considerable amount to do urethral bulking operation privately (around £3,000) and there is only a 60-70 per cent success rate.

I was in the NHS system, but it was taking years, so I decided to go for it and told friends I was having filler in my four.

The procedure is performed under general anaesthetic. Post-op, I was a bit sore and couldn't exercise or have sex for a month. Recovery complete, my stress incontinence was definitely better – around 75 per cent.

Running was (mainly) okay, ditto dancing. Coughs and sneezes were still problematic. On balance, I was pleased I had done it. Then, miracle, an NHS appointment came through! I went along and the consultant said he could 'top up' my bulking and try to get me to 100 per cent dry.

Rosie Green's life has changed since having urethral bulking

I went under again and this time around, it's been truly life-changing. I dance with abandon, don't need to restrict liquids before exercise and don't have to cross my legs when I sneeze.

I may need to have a top-up bulking every five years but now I’m in the NHS system I should be able to access the service for no cost. Still not risking a trampoline though…

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