During the height of the pandemic, Lisa was working as a nurse in the COVID outbreak squad at Melbourne’s St Basil’s aged care home, and other highly infectious outbreak sites. 

“There was no vaccine, we didn’t know who was going to be susceptible to COVID, we didn’t understand it. Cases were doubling daily,” she says. 

While this was happening, Lisa was struggling with her own battle — with incontinence. 

Every day, while helping treat those infected with coronavirus, the layers of protective gear would make it almost impossible for Lisa to get to the toilet in time. 

She’d wear continence aids, but it was not enough. Lisa would wet herself before she could make it to the toilet.

“I was in PPE and I started to just wee on the floor. It started to run down my leg,” she says. 

Lisa would try to get to the toilets but often due to infection prevention measures, it would not be possible. 

“I had a pad on that day and everything, but what do you do?” she says.

Lisa says it was a scary time — at times she was worried her rush to the toilet was exposing her to COVID.

“The outbreak was a lot bigger than we anticipated, so we’d get told it was so many cases and then you’d turn up the next day and it had tripled in numbers so we were implementing new infection prevention controls,” she says.

“I remember having to go to the toilet, and thinking ‘well I’ve got it now’, and I’ve got compromised people all around me.

“That sense of responsibility and that sense of capacity to be a conduit for this thing is overwhelming.”

Lisa resigned from the COVID outbreak squad, largely due to her struggles with incontinence.

Five million Australians affected

Lisa has worked with urologists, pelvic floor physiotherapists and various specialists over the past 20 years.

The cause of her incontinence is unknown, but it requires her to have botox injections into her bladder every six months to minimise the issue.

A young family member is starting to experience the same thing, leading Lisa to believe it is not related to childbirth. 

Despite the botox injections, Lisa says she still has accidents.

She says without the injections, she would wet herself up to 15 times per day.

She remains in fear of wetting herself or being far from a toilet.

“The shame attached — I can’t describe it to you,” she says.

Lisa is one of more than 5 million Australians (over the age of 15) affected by incontinence; an estimated 78 per cent of whom do not seek medical attention due to shame or embarrassment.

What is incontinence?

Incontinence is an umbrella term to cover conditions pertaining to the loss of bladder and bowel control, whether that be an inability to pass urine or faeces or the involuntary loss of control.

Types of incontinence can range from stress incontinence, urine leakage from activities that put pressure on the bladder, such as sneezing or exercise; urge urinary incontinence — the involuntary loss of urine associated with urgency, functional incontinence, urinary retention — the inability to empty the bladder completely.

Any type can feel shameful, humiliating and degrading for sufferers.

Incontinence can be caused by any number of medical and psychological conditions, including nerve damage, pregnancy, Crohn’s disease, kidney disease and bladder injury.

Urologist for Australian Urology Associates, Karen McKertich, says Lisa is not alone. 

“Many people suffering from incontinence find that their life is severely restricted by the condition,” she says. 

Incontinence can not only be humiliating and stressful for sufferers, health ramifications include skin excoriation leading to rashes and infections, urinary tract infections, kidney failure in instances where the bladder is unable to empty and permanent damage to bladder function. 

In 2021, the Continence Foundation of Australia found that the number of Australians suffering incontinence was rising, however the percentage of Australians that seek medical assistance remains low, with 78 per cent of people not discussing incontinence with their family or GP.

“Often the biggest barriers to people seeking help are the sense of shame about the problem, the feeling that the person is suffering alone as well the lack of awareness of solutions to the problem,” Dr McKertich adds. 

Continence Week 

World Continence Week (June 19-25) aims to raise awareness surrounding the prevalence of incontinence and offer support to those looking for information or guidance.

The Continence Foundation of Australia offers support to Australians struggling with continence issues — and there is a national continence helpline (1800 33 00 66) for free, confidential advice. 

Dr McKertich says often incontinence can be resolved with non-surgical intervention.

“Be reassured that there are many treatments available that are tailored to the individual and do not necessarily involve surgery or invasive procedures,” she says.