While considered a relatively safe and routine procedure, a hysterectomy, or removal of a woman’s uterus, has understandably life-altering after-effects. Besides the obvious cessation of menstruation and inability to bring a child to term, there are hormonal imbalance issues, and due to a weakening of the pelvic muscles, incontinence can be an issue for hysterectomy patients as well, no matter how closely an OB-Gyn attends to his or her patient’s aftercare.

Indeed, medical news was recently released that says women who have had hysterectomies and are under the age of 60 are up to 40% more likely to have some form of feminine bladder incontinence than women who have not had a hysterectomy. Additionally, women who have had hysterectomies and are over the age of 60 are actually 60% more likely to experience some sort of feminine bladder incontinence than women of the same age who have not had a hysterectomy.

Additional research has shown no discernable difference in the increased risk of bladder incontinence between total hysterectomies and supracervical hysterectomies: both kinds of hysterectomy can result in damage to the pelvic nerves, which can result in incontinence. It’s important that any woman who has a hysterectomy attends to her recovery and observes closely any changes in her urinary habits.

Despite these bleak statistics, any woman who attends to her own personal care can be assured a relatively unchanged quality of life. There are many products that have been created specifically to empower victims of urinary incontinence to live normal lives without worry or concern. Thanks to products like Attends, former hysterectomy patients are able to do activities that would otherwise prove difficult or embarrassing: long road trips, laugh at funny movies, even sneezing can typically cause leakage from the bladder in cases of bladder incontinence.

So, while medical news reports that the potential downsides of hysterectomies are clear and present, the necessity of major surgery does not immediately make necessary a change in lifestyle or the reduction of activity. Instead, post-operative complications can be dealt with and overcome through the use of simple and easily-accessible lifestyle supplements. Whether you’re part of the 40% of women under 60 who develop feminine bladder incontinence after hysterectomy, or you’re part of the 40% of women over 60 who don’t develop incontinence after hysterectomy, the most important thing is simply to take care of yourself.