www.incontinentsupport.org

Hi all

Apologies if this has been covered before having been in diapers now for a year now and previously avoiding sport as being loo dependant (urge incontinent) I want to take the next step and join team sporting activities to get back in shape and further my integration back into society and build my confidence back up!

How do you all cope with proper protection verses tight kit and being in the UK any suggestions on diapers what male sporting kit to wear or avoid and sweat issues etc?

Any tips for avoiding embarrassing changing room situations would also be great?

Many thanks in advance

Greenbank

greenbank,

Although my situation precludes participation in team sports, I would think that activities which accommodate incontinence management might include rowing, golf, camping, sailing, and fishing.

Anyone else have any ideas?

I can't think of many activities that would be completely off limits due to incontinence. Distance endurance sports would likely be difficult owing to repetitive motions and chafing, but otherwise no.

I've known people that used diapers when drysuit diving, skiing, snowmobiling, and duck hunting.

Greenbank,

A relatively thin but high absorbency diaper such as the Tena Slip Maxi, with PUL pants is a good base. For strenuous activity, it is always is wise to reinforce the tapes.

However, for a high level of activity, it is very important to cover all that with sport compression pants which both hold everything in place and also reduce any chaffing from the diaper or plastic pants. The highly stretchy sport compression pants function and feel much like bicycle shorts.

--John

I go to the gym 6 days a week and work out fairly strenuously on different cardio machines (eleptical trainers, treadmills, etc.) for usually 45 minutes at a stretch. My personal experience doing this with a variety of diapers tells me that plastic backed diapers do much better than cloth-backed in terms of reducing friction and chaffing. The two diapers I continue to wear most frequently are the Tena Slip Maxi (plastic shell) and the Wellness Superio and they both work well for me through most of my daily activities including the gym. I've been using the Superio's a bit more recently to try to preserve my stockpile of plastic Tena's for as long as possible.

The one negative I've experienced with both of these products is that on rare occasion while working out on the treadmill, though never on the eliptical machines, I have finished my workout to discover a small "trail of fluff" behind me. Apparently, the constant friction caused the inner sheet to pull away from the plastic outer sheet allowing some of the "fluff" to get pushed out between my legs while walking. On the these few occasions (over a few years now) that this happened, the common denominator was that I had wet a bit getting out of the car or before starting my workout. I try to start off all my workouts in a dry diaper to prevent this from happening but also because I build up quite a bit of moisture and heat inside the diaper while working out and it's just much more comfortable to start off as dry as possible. The PUL pants or some other kind of compression shorts may help alleviate the embarrassing "trail of fluff" problem if the diaper pulls apart at all as I'm describing here. Due to the heat, I prefer to just wear my workout shorts right over the diaper with nothing else to keep the heat level down as much as possible. My workout buddy tells me she can't see or hear anything when I dress for the gym in this fashion so it seems to be working... although she was the one that coined the phrase "you got fluffed" the first time we got off the treadmills we were on and I had to pick up little balls of white fluff off the back end of the treadmill and the floor behind me.

CJ, I'm sorry but I'm laughing at the "You got fluffed" comment. That is funny. The prediciment isn't funny at all. And I appreciate your input on this. Thanks so much.

_________________
"Why is the rum always gone?" - Captain Jack Sparrow

"There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise." -
Gore Vidal

I'm glad you're laughing and that I'm now able to find it funny as well. I admit, I was embarrassed but then I thought, "Who the hell really cares as long as I clean it up?" Things like this are where I've found it helpful that people close to me know I'm incontinent. Instead of being traumatic it was just mildly humorous.

And it's not like I'm going to stop working out. If anything, I'm hoping that as my weight falls a little bit at a time here and there, maybe my urgency problems might get a bit better. I like knowing that having to wear a diaper isn't stopping me from doing these things. I take pride in that.

Now, if someone could just make a diaper that could cool itself while working out..................

CJinNM,

A little humor helps to keep us sane! We have to be able to laugh at ourselves.

Re the diapers, in some brands the absorbent mat is better bonded to the back sheet and less prone to separate or fragment. Tena Slip and Dry 24/7 are two such diapers. I was going to recommend the Tena Slip Maxi for exercise (I still have a stock of the plastic-backed ones), as well as the Unique Wellness Superio Signature (not the original Wellness diaper). Interesting that these two diapers gave you a trail of fluff. You must be working out very strenuously indeed. In cool weather I have used the Dry 24/7.

If forced to exercise while wearing a diaper with a cloth-like backing, I have found the Seni Quatro and Seni Super Plus to do better than most other breathables (of course, I have not tried them all).

I routinely double tape all diapers used for exercise.

PUL pants should catch the fluff as well as normal leaks!

Again, compression pants enhance the efficiency of the diaper by keeping the diaper close to the skin, holding the leg gathers in place, reducing sag, and also reducing friction. There is no way any diaper fluff will get past my UnderArmour compression pants!!

This topic is of interest to many of us, so please keep providing comments about what works well and what does not.

--John

I work out at a local gym and they all know of my challenges. I am in a general fitness class with a number of challenged individuals. Some walkers, some wheelchairs, lots of braces. My challenge is a diaper and a few others as well. Check around these classes are everywhere. As for dressing, be comfortable for what you are asking of yourself. You are the only one you need to please and if you are comfortable in your incontinence products to heck with the rest that are not. There is a new reality out their if you have seen the depends commercials on the T.V.

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Dean & Kathy

John, I totally agree with your comments. Your system sounds like it would work well for most people. I've tried compression shorts a few times and maybe it's the way I'm shaped but I felt like everything just kept getting pulled downward as I worked out. Normal day-to-day movement, they've been fine but they don't feel as comfortable to me in this instance. I would bet for most people, compression shorts would be the way to go. I was surprised that the Tena Slip Maxi let me down in terms of pulling apart. I've never had a problem with them when I start out dry and I seriously think that the few times I had trouble with the Tena's that I'll bet I was a lot wetter than I maybe I thought I was and I was being cheap trying to save an extra change. I work out hard enough that I have to change out of the diaper I wear to the gym whether I've peed or not just because it gets so clammy from the sweat and the heat. Usually it's not an issue because the strain I put on my body causes a few leaks during the workout anyway but the last time "I got fluffed", I knew I had just wet and I avoided changing because I didn't want to have to change again just over an hour later when I was done with my workout. My advice.... don't be cheap. I strongly suspect being wet allowed just enough sag or clumping to stress the high-friction area and allow it to pull apart. Since I've been more vigilant about starting my workouts dry, I've not had any problems with either the Wellness Superios or the Tena's.

I'm thinking of trying the new Northshore Care diapers that are plastic backed. Has anyone tried these for working out or athletic situations? I'd love to have a replacement for the plastic Tena's when they run out.

DJC - - I have a sense that you are right. I don't know if it's add campaigns like Underwareness or if I'm just feeling bolder myself so it's changing my outlook but I've really started to not worry about people finding out about my incontinence. I see no need to broadcast it or to tell anyone just for the sake of telling them but I think maybe attitudes might be changing?? I'm pretty sure mine has.

CJ