A fitness instructor has opened up about her struggle with bladder weakness, despite being only in her 40s.
When Gemma Cooke, from Bristol, had her first ‘little accident’ while training on a trampoline, she was shocked.
The 45-year-old enjoys an active lifestyle and is in good physical condition thanks to her work. She never expected to suffer from incontinence at such a young age.
Unfortunately, such incidents continued to occur on a weekly basis – including when she was teaching or even sneezing, leaving Gemma at a loss as to what to do.
She limited her water intake because she feared drinking too much would cause another incident, and wore a sanitary pad to avoid embarrassment.
When Gemma Cooke, 45, from Bristol, had her first ‘little accident’ while exercising on a trampoline, she was shocked
She enjoys an active lifestyle and is in good physical shape thanks to her job as a fitness instructor. She never expected that she would suffer from incontinence problems at such a young age
‘When I was on the mini trampoline I noticed that when I bounced at night I would have a little accident there,’ says Gemma, who runs The Bounce Fit Method rebounding fitness classes in Bristol.
‘Also other things, like whether I sometimes sneeze or even stumble.
“I just wanted to nip that in the bud before I got older (or) it got worse.
“I haven’t had any kids or anything, so I just knew this was something I had to take care of.
“I was afraid I drank too much water all day, and then I would have an accident on the rebounder in front of everyone.”
‘It has affected my self-confidence a bit.’
Gemma took several steps to limit potentially embarrassing consequences, including buying ‘every device under the sun’ aimed at incontinence – but says nothing helped.
She said: ‘I just found them (these methods) a bit time-consuming.
“I wanted something where I knew I could go somewhere and get treatment and also get professional advice from someone.”
At her wit’s end, she decided to try another product and it had a powerful effect.
The fitness instructor was walking past Bodyset physiotherapy clinic in Bristol when she spotted a PelviPower chair, which is designed to strengthen the pelvic muscles.
The device works by sending repetitive and pain-free magnetic impulses to strengthen and stimulate the pelvic floor and surrounding muscular system.
The brand estimates that one minute on the chair is the equivalent of 25,000 pelvic floor exercises.
Keen to see if this would help, Gemma booked an appointment with a women’s health specialist through Bodyset – home to a network of more than 30 private clinics across the UK – as she felt the treatment was ‘too good to be true’.
She said: ‘I just thought it was a really good thing to do.
‘My first appointment was a physio appointment with a women’s health specialist and I didn’t really know what to expect.
‘I immediately started using PelviPower and felt really good.
“I felt good because I knew I was taking steps to get it right.
“It didn’t hurt, not at all.”
Unfortunately, these incidents continued to occur on a weekly basis – including while she was teaching or simply while she was sneezing, leaving Gemma at a loss as to what to do.
She even limited her water intake as she worried it would cause another incident, and wore sanitary pads to avoid embarrassment
‘When I was on the mini trampoline I noticed that when I bounced at night I would have a little accident there,’ says Gemma, who runs The Bounce Fit Method rebounding fitness classes in Bristol.
The fitness fanatic noticed ‘huge improvements’ after just a few sessions.
She said: ‘It probably took five or six sessions to notice it.
“I was on my rebounder teaching at night and had been drinking a lot of water that day.
‘Where I would normally have some leakage, there was nothing, it was completely fine.’
She has had 10 sessions since then and has noticed a huge improvement – she has rarely had any accidents since then, and only then when she has had plenty of water.
Gemma recently went for a walk in the mountains and despite stumbling a few times, she had no problems with incontinence – something she describes as ‘amazing’.
Having often felt embarrassed by the issue during her experience, she now advises other women to speak out.
She added: “What I would say to women who are suffering in silence is that it can be solved.
‘Go to Bodyset, book yourself into a women’s health physio and then get on the PelviPower, and get some sessions booked – because you’ll feel so much more confident.’