FINDING INCONTINENCE WEAR WHICH SUITS US
Many people are reticent to talk about incontinence. Finding the best kind of protection is a big concern for those of us who are incontinent. Brand names are often used instead of generic names; even generic names are not always precisely used with the same meaning. I am often left confused about what kind of wear is being referred to. The sex of the intended user is not always specified on the packet: are we to assume it is for everyone? Sometimes the variety available looks bewildering; so what can be done to give us guidance on how to identify what is best or at least good for each of us?
Something that gives us the protection we need is essential but is not the only consideration: there are also issues of comfort, appearance and cost.
Comfort: our incontinence wear touches some of the most sensitive parts of our bodies most, if not all day and in my case, all night too.
Appearance: many concerns are expressed about whether incontinence wear will be detectable beneath outer clothing; some feel restricted to clothing which will hide the fact that we are incontinent; so a less bulky alternative might be preferable so long as it does the job. There is also the issue of how we feel about the appearance of our incontinence wear when it is seen by nurses, carers, partners or whoever. Certainly manufacturers pay attention to making their products look attractive, in many cases, as close in appearance to normal underwear as they can.
For some, life style will influence the significance they attach to appearance. I spend all day in a wheelchair and all night flat on my back in bed. More active people are likely to be more concerned about whether their incontinence wear is hidden by their outer clothing.
Cost: why pay more than we need to for something that does the job and is of acceptable appearance?
FIVE KINDS OF INCONTINENCE WEAR
There is some imprecision in defining what is incontinence. From puberty until my accident I wore paper towels in my underwear to soak up any dribbles after peeing and leaks of semen. I did not think of myself as being incontinent. (This was long before a spinal injury made me doubly incontinent in 2013.) How much dribbling makes someone incontinent? How often must a considerable accident have to occur for someone to be incontinent?
Many kinds of normal underwear, both male and female, have a double layer or gusset where there is likely to be a small amount of leakage.
Protective wear for those more heavily incontinent seem to fall within five types:
1 There are many kinds of underwear on the market adapted for heavier leakage and marketed as incontinence wear: there are many brands of washable or disposable pants and knickers adapted to take pads or with absorbent areas. Most seem to be single-sex. The pads when sold separately can be single- or unisex.
2 Fixation pants: non-absorbent, used only to hold a pad in place; unisex - no front exit for men; nurses and carers usually refer to mine as nets, pants or knickers. The manufacturers often just refer to them by their brand name chosen to give a hint of what they are, with a pictogram to give a further clue, announcing that they are fixation pants for incontinence pads in microscopic print in 20+ languages on the back of the packet.
Another minute pictogram showing how to determine your size shows a figure of indeterminate gender, leaving the sex of the intended user equally uncertain.
They are more stretchy than is usual for ordinary underwear and so can be expected to take a pad more readily. The pad can be unisex or single sex. It is to be expected that the difference would be in the length at the front. To take an erection, my pads have to be pulled up as far as they will go. The packet does not clear up the mystery of the gender of the intended user.
3 Pull-ups: an expression used in the USA for both children's and adult products; similar to normal underwear but with pad fixed inside and are made of waterproof material. They can be unisex or single-sex.
4 Diapers: can open out flat; large absorbent pad to cover area likely to be affected by urine or faeces; plastic sides with one or two adhesive tabs on each side to hold them securely around the body between the groin and the waist. A term used in the USA for both children's and adult products. These too can be unisex or single-sex.
5 Cloth diapers (USA)/nappies (UK): square, absorbent, washable material held in place by safety pins or something more modern. There are many brands of cloth diapers/nappies shaped like plastic ones with fastening studs at each side. Occasionally they are referred to as 'napkins' but in the UK this is more usual for smaller squares of lighter material used at the dinner table to clear up stray bits of food from around the mouth or fingers or to prevent the soiling of clothes - similar in purpose to nappies but at the other end of the alimentary canal.
Pants made of plastic, rubber or other waterproof material can be worn over any of these types of incontinence wear for extra protection.
This is an extract from a paper which is too long to fit on this site. It can be seen at
http://www.incontinentsupport.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3617