I know I'm getting on a bit, am positively a fossil in the mostly youthful blogging world as my inbox seems to have more and more enquiries from PR people who have decided I'm over 45 and therefore quite possibly incontinent.
I do have many issues in the lady garden area, including a prolapse, recurrent thrush caused by my diabetes and my weakness when it comes to Prosecco and other sugary alcoholic drinks plus some menopause related sensitivities.
Mostly my dampness in the knicker area occurs after laughing, coughing or sneezing and up until now I have utilised the "cross legs tightly and hope for the best" approach.
Sorry, just realised I should have posted TMI warning before listing all of that. Oh well, if you are still here you can cope with the rest of my post today.
Let's talk about incontinence. Mostly urinary but frankly there are some poor sods out there who are doubly incontinent but not quite ready to park themselves permanently on the commode with no life outside the bathroom.
Luckily incontinence products are undergoing a bit of a redesign as companies like Tena realise that modern women want to stay dry and retain their sense of style and dignity. Smelling a little bit of wee and trying to cover it with lavender perfumed and powders is no longer accepted as an inevitable process of ageing.
Over the next few weeks I am going to be testing out a variety of incontinence products (oh the glamour!) and letting you know what I think of them.
Let's start with Tena.
You must have been living under a rock not to have heard of Tena. Amongst my friends we refer to incontinence products as "Tenas" in the way many people use the name Hoover to describe all vacuum cleaners.
But not everyone realises the scope of the range and I have to confess I was one of those who wondered why I should buy specific incontinence pads when I could use up all the sanitary pads left over after a lifetime of menstruation now that the menopause has settled herself into my life.
Apparently though, incontinence liners, pads and pants absorb leaks faster than products designed for when Aunt Flo visits so you are less likely to end up sore or smelly.
Tena's range promises triple protection from leaks, odour and moisture and like products designed for periods, you can choose Tena products for men and women in a range of absorbencies including some designed for nighttime.
So - you can buy slim, body shaped liners for security if you have occasional light leaks - y'know, the tiny trickle when you sneeze or cough. Moving on up the ranks of products for when little occasional leaks become more frequent and heavier you can get pads which again, are more absorbent and more comfortable than sanitary pads.
Even if your leakage is less trickling brook and more gushing waterfall you can find a Tena product to suit. I was told that their more substantial offerings can hold an entire drinks can of fluid! Impressive!
Many products in the range have odour control so you can be confident no-one will start wrinkling their nose or sniffing suspiciously as you approach. And with you a number of design features to eliminate leakage you can run for the bus without drizzling pee like Mrs Emmery, from Little Britain.
In the interests of research for the blog and possibly later life I decided to try out Tena Pants which I had seen advertised on the TV featuring a new cotton-soft pretty design created by leading lingerie designer Ceri Williams.
I decided to wear the pants for a whole day to see if they were as comfortable and discreet as the advert claims.
Tena Pants come in two sizes- medium (size 10-16) and large (size 16-22). My underwear is normally size 8-12 depending on brand so I chose the medium. At first I was worried they were still too big but after the initial weirdness of putting on what feels a lot like a pull-up I soon forgot I was wearing them.
I wore them with loose trousers and after a couple of minutes the slight crinkly paperiness mostly disappeared and after an hour the pants felt just like normal underwear, albeit a bit padded.
I wore them with soft trousers and can assure you they were not visible - no "Teletubbies" bum for me.
It was quite a warm day and I was concerned about getting a sweaty bum but I am delighted to report it was not an issue. I genuinely did forget I was wearing them most of the time.
At the end of the day I was as fresh and sweetly scented as when I stepped out of the shower in the morning. I'm calling that a big thumbs up for Tena and an end to the crossed leg sneezing.
If I'm honest, I don't need that level of protection (just yet) but it's nice to know that if and when I do Tena Pants will be there to give me comfortable discreet confidence.
You can try Tena free for yourself - just head to the website where there is lots of information about the entire range (including products for men) and the link to order free samples.
Disclaimer: I attended an information day and received free product samples for the purposes of this honest review.
I do have many issues in the lady garden area, including a prolapse, recurrent thrush caused by my diabetes and my weakness when it comes to Prosecco and other sugary alcoholic drinks plus some menopause related sensitivities.
Mostly my dampness in the knicker area occurs after laughing, coughing or sneezing and up until now I have utilised the "cross legs tightly and hope for the best" approach.
Sorry, just realised I should have posted TMI warning before listing all of that. Oh well, if you are still here you can cope with the rest of my post today.
Let's talk about incontinence. Mostly urinary but frankly there are some poor sods out there who are doubly incontinent but not quite ready to park themselves permanently on the commode with no life outside the bathroom.
Luckily incontinence products are undergoing a bit of a redesign as companies like Tena realise that modern women want to stay dry and retain their sense of style and dignity. Smelling a little bit of wee and trying to cover it with lavender perfumed and powders is no longer accepted as an inevitable process of ageing.
Over the next few weeks I am going to be testing out a variety of incontinence products (oh the glamour!) and letting you know what I think of them.
Let's start with Tena.
You must have been living under a rock not to have heard of Tena. Amongst my friends we refer to incontinence products as "Tenas" in the way many people use the name Hoover to describe all vacuum cleaners.
But not everyone realises the scope of the range and I have to confess I was one of those who wondered why I should buy specific incontinence pads when I could use up all the sanitary pads left over after a lifetime of menstruation now that the menopause has settled herself into my life.
Apparently though, incontinence liners, pads and pants absorb leaks faster than products designed for when Aunt Flo visits so you are less likely to end up sore or smelly.
Tena's range promises triple protection from leaks, odour and moisture and like products designed for periods, you can choose Tena products for men and women in a range of absorbencies including some designed for nighttime.
So - you can buy slim, body shaped liners for security if you have occasional light leaks - y'know, the tiny trickle when you sneeze or cough. Moving on up the ranks of products for when little occasional leaks become more frequent and heavier you can get pads which again, are more absorbent and more comfortable than sanitary pads.
Even if your leakage is less trickling brook and more gushing waterfall you can find a Tena product to suit. I was told that their more substantial offerings can hold an entire drinks can of fluid! Impressive!
Many products in the range have odour control so you can be confident no-one will start wrinkling their nose or sniffing suspiciously as you approach. And with you a number of design features to eliminate leakage you can run for the bus without drizzling pee like Mrs Emmery, from Little Britain.
In the interests of research for the blog and possibly later life I decided to try out Tena Pants which I had seen advertised on the TV featuring a new cotton-soft pretty design created by leading lingerie designer Ceri Williams.
I decided to wear the pants for a whole day to see if they were as comfortable and discreet as the advert claims.
Tena Pants come in two sizes- medium (size 10-16) and large (size 16-22). My underwear is normally size 8-12 depending on brand so I chose the medium. At first I was worried they were still too big but after the initial weirdness of putting on what feels a lot like a pull-up I soon forgot I was wearing them.
I wore them with loose trousers and after a couple of minutes the slight crinkly paperiness mostly disappeared and after an hour the pants felt just like normal underwear, albeit a bit padded.
I wore them with soft trousers and can assure you they were not visible - no "Teletubbies" bum for me.
It was quite a warm day and I was concerned about getting a sweaty bum but I am delighted to report it was not an issue. I genuinely did forget I was wearing them most of the time.
At the end of the day I was as fresh and sweetly scented as when I stepped out of the shower in the morning. I'm calling that a big thumbs up for Tena and an end to the crossed leg sneezing.
If I'm honest, I don't need that level of protection (just yet) but it's nice to know that if and when I do Tena Pants will be there to give me comfortable discreet confidence.
You can try Tena free for yourself - just head to the website where there is lots of information about the entire range (including products for men) and the link to order free samples.
Disclaimer: I attended an information day and received free product samples for the purposes of this honest review.