The procedure was very simple. I was completely dry within a day or two, and returned to work the next day, carrying on with life as normal

As a keen walker, enjoying regular holidays in the Lake District, I soon decided that stress incontinence wasn’t something that I was prepared to put up with. I’d tried pelvic floor exercises and specialist physiotherapy but neither seemed to make much difference. Yes, I was able to wear pads in the short time but increasingly, I found them uncomfortable and inconvenient and I was becoming rather fed up with outings and holidays constantly interrupted by my need of having to locate a loo!

The Bulkamid procedure is “non-invasive” and only took around 15 minutes! I was back doing all my normal activities the next day – which seems incredible given the usual 6-week recovery time from traditional surgery!

From that day onwards, I didn’t need to wear pads again and those embarrassing leaks when coughing, sneezing, walking up a hill were a thing of a past. It’s made such a difference to my life.

Over the past few years, I’d really got into going to the gym, particularly working with weights but increasingly my bladder issues – and those embarrassing leaks – were really starting to impact on what I could comfortably do.

Lifting heavier weights was becoming impossible – let alone more energetic forms of exercise such as jumping and skipping – so I decided enough was enough and I wanted to do something about it. I wasn’t prepared to give up my love of fitness and going to the gym regularly – nor did I want to be constantly worrying about wearing incontinence pads.

So, I booked an appointment with my GP and requested a referral for further investigation. The procedure was a little uncomfortable and stung a bit (when the local anaesthetic was applied) but it was all over in 15 mins and I was able to go home shortly after. In fact, I was back at the gym that evening and achieved a personal best in deadlifting, without any leakage!