Complaints about the tena lady ad

They are not a myth. I was referred to a continence nurse, who reminded me how to do pelvic exercise floor exercises ( I had been taught when I was pregnant many years ago). Other advice included decaf tea, drinking more water, avoiding certain things. I was treated with kindness and respect. It was great to be listened to, and to have 3x an hour’s appointment.

I completely agree. It is not “normal “ to piss your pants! Get medical help and wear proper underwear instead of what is basically a nappy.

Its pretty normal around here.
People do what suits them, not everyone wants help for a drop of wee.

Men have this problem too, why is there no advert for them????
Its an awful advert

I must be very fortunate. Despite being a fat woman.

We were recently offered free incontinence knickers and boxes of pads, at our elder's group and I was the only one who didn't take any.

You watch, now I'll spring a leak !!

I am afraid I have to disagree...I am glad this issue is out in the open. I had no idea I had leakage problems and it would have been good to know this years ago. It has ruined 2 relationships at least and until I twigged, several sofas and beds.

I have tried everything other than surgery, excercises, regular exercise such as yoga and swimming.

Nothing worked. I am now on a bladder calming tablet solinefacin but still leak and wear a towel every day.

The tena ad was a breath of fresh air, I say let’s be open about it and not leave new mothers to cope with this alone. ?

SparkyGrandma we are not say some women and men who don’t ever get these kind of adverts suffer from incontinence. Glad you have seemed help but these adverts are only for PROFIT and do nothing to help others that with some help or information about what support is out there can cure it. The pollution is astronomical and it takes over 300 years for these products to break down into the environment. There are products out there that are less harmful. Tena want all women to accept this problem as a oops moment and just put up with it. I cannot believe how some are hoodwinked into paying these extreme costs for their products profiteering on the women population. There is a massive economy based on women’s sanitary wear and promotion of products like vaginal perfumes etc that are extremely harmful and they play on women’s fear. This should be out in the open I agree and gets some facts right good be a good thing

I agree with sparkly, in that for some (a lot, I would say) it is normal, for a variety of reasons.

The ads are pretty twee, but then its quite an uncomfortable subject, even though it shouldn't be.

But the problem is not that the products exist or that they are marketed.

The problem is that when so many women are fobbed off when they DO seek help for these issues, the ads are reinforcing the message that women should suffer in silence!

Notanan, I'll take your word for it that women with incontinence are fobbed off especially because I have been to the doctor about minor health problems and have been fobbed off with some more or less useless prescription.

The GPs haven't time for minor incontinence problems but if it's something they can sort out like intermittent diarrhoea as a sign possibly of bowel cancer, or urinary incontinence as a sign of uterine prolapse I bet the GP would pay a lot more attention.

I do wish there were more incontinence nurses or physios who would treat minor conditions. E.g. some incontinence can be cured with pelvic floor excercises, and other incontinence by good bowel management.

Incontinence can lead to major issues if untreated so it is not that minor

It can cause fatal pressure sores
Fatal kidney damage
Sepsis

Its not a "little" problem!

Notanan, I heartily agree with you. I have nursed incontinent patients and tried to prevent bedsores. Prevention of bedsores from incontinence is a qualified nurse's responsibility unless you are the Queen or something.

TENA advert criticised for 'normalising' incontinence after childbirth www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49235784
Apparently the Royal College of Nursing complained to the Advertising Standards Authority. Good for the RCN!

Glad to hear it Purple

Incontinence if not treated will become worse as I found out a few years ago. I was going to the doctors and explaining my situation but to no avail. Eventually my bladder gave way and I was soaking wet through all my clothes. I wrapped a towel round me and went straight to the doctors. Was told no doctor available so I took the towel from around me and said "Now tell me I can't see a doctor". The receptionist was aghast. Just hang on a couple of minutes and I will get the doctor to see you. At last something was done about it. Admitted to hospital where several tests were performed and they eventually tightened my tummy muscles. Thank goodness this sorted the problem out.

I agree with Sparkly. I am not incontinent but have wet myself ( rarely). When you have RA and you wake up in pain and stiffness it precludes you getting to the loo quickly. I don’t mind the ads. Thankfully I do not need pads much.

If incontinence is a bit of a taboo subject then my problem is worse and never really mentioned.

I suffer from IBS D from time to time and this has resulted in me covering my tracks for years. I watch what I eat and knowing what I can eat helps a lot. But if I'm travelling on a long journey I resort to wearing these pants as an insurance policy and believe me I've sometimes been thankful. I know all toilets on route for common journeys.

Sadly knowing I'm leaving the house can trigger a trip to the toilet and sometimes, not always this can turn into an 'episode' I'll spare the gory details. As I said this has gone on for years and my solution is to manage it and these pants are part of my armoury.

I don’t mind the ads.

This thread is about a specific ad, not the existance of ads selling incontinence products

Tapdance6 that’s sad and glad they did something then but to have to go through that...

I've now got an ad for 'KNOBBY' underpants.
Sounds like they may be for men.

I haven't seen the Tena one. Not sure where I've been but the Always Discreet one is awful.

Same with the one for Viagra though,which is misleading, but i think it might have been taken off,i haven't seen it recently
Viagra is advertised as a wonder pill for ED and showed a man merrily skipping downstairs, after using Viagra, but for men with more serious problems ,maybe prostate cancer it might be depressing for them to watch, Viagra isn't for all men

I bought a Kegel exerciser thingy a few years ago.I used it reiligiousy for months and the problem appeared to have been solved.It did reoccur earlier this year so the wee Kegel m/c is back in use,this time I'll keep using it longterm to avoid it coming back .

These adverts are my pet hate. Is nothing sacred these days? I presume the point of tena lady pants are that no one knows what they're for, well they know now.
I went off Claire Raynor way back when my children were young and she appeared in an advert for sanitary towels.
I hated when it came on tv. I still hate those adverts.
If it's good enough for women why don't they show men's incontinence pads and pants? They exist!

As a former physio with a lot of maternity experience (I worked on maternity for a number of years) the ad makes my blood boil.

It's not an 'oops' moment for most women, it's mortally embarrassing!! Pelvic floor exercises are very important post natally and in later life and don't seem to be taught now!

missdeke - yes men have pelvic floors too but I ~think~ their incontinence problems have different causes. The pelvic floor supports your abdominal contents (guts etc) so any rise in pressure can lead to leakage if there's weakness