Coleen Nolan has opened up about the ‘taboo’ health issue she has struggled with for decades on Tuesday.

The Loose Women star, 59, revealed she has dealt with bladder leakage since her early 20’s after welcoming the first of her three children at the age of 23.

Coleen said she ‘loves the fact she doesn’t feel alone’ with the struggle as she and her fellow ITV panelists regularly discuss bladder control backstage.

She said: ‘We have talked about it among ourselves. We’ll say, ‘Oh my God, I wet myself at that yesterday’ or ‘I nearly wet myself today laughing at that topic’ After the show when we are back in our dressing rooms, we talk about it, doing our debrief. I love the fact that you don’t have to feel alone with it.’

Coleen, who is an ambassador for Always Discreet, said the leakage has become worse over the years, particularly after sneezing, laughing, or coughing.

She continued: ‘My bladder issues were from having my first child really. When you are younger, and they are going on at you about doing your pelvic floor exercises, you say ‘yeah, whatever’. I’d do them, but not regularly, and then three children later you think ‘Maybe I should have done them when I was told’.’

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Coleen Nolan has opened up about the ‘taboo’ health issue she has struggled with for decades on Tuesday

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The Loose Women star, 59, revealed she has dealt with bladder leakage since her early 20’s after welcoming the first of her three children at the age of 23

Coleen is a proud mum to Shane, 36, and Jake, 32 from her marriage to EastEnders star Shane Richie, and daughter Ciara, 23, from her marriage to guitarist Ray Fensome.

Coleen said leakages are more common than people think and do not just affect older people.

Bladder leakage can be caused by weakened muscles, nerve damage, certain medications, and certain foods and drinks and by doing pelvic floor exercises you can strengthen the muscles to help reduce leaks.

Coleen added that it is important to ‘get into the habit’ of incorporating pelvic floor exercises into your daily routine and ‘no one will know you are doing them’.

It comes after Coleen fought back tears on Loose Women last month as she revealed the heartbreaking reason she doesn’t visit the graves of her dead relatives.

The presenter made the candid confession during a discussion about visiting family members’ final resting places.

And while Kaye Adams shared that she often feels duty-bound to lay flowers and pay her respects, Coleen explained the emotional reason why she avoids it.

Coleen has suffered a heartbreaking few years as her family has been beset by tragedy.

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Coleen said she ‘loves the fact she doesn’t feel alone’ with the struggle as she and her fellow ITV panelists regularly discuss bladder control backstage; pictured Charlene White, Coleen Nolan, Janet Street-Porter, Judi Love

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She said: After the show when we are back in our dressing rooms, we talk about it, doing our debrief. I love the fact that you don’t have to feel alone with it’

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‘My bladder issues were from having my first child really. When you are younger, and they are going on at you about doing your pelvic floor exercises, you say ‘yeah, whatever’ and then three children later you think ‘Maybe I should have done them”

The singer’s sister Bernie died in 2010 and her mother Maureen passed away aged 80 in 2007.

Despite the heartbreaking deaths, Coleen shared that she avoids visiting their graves because she believes she can keep their memory alive better by talking about them and reminiscing.

She said: ‘You keep them alive in memory don’t you? You keep them alive in photographs and you keep them alive by talking about them.’

She went on to reveal that she doesn’t feel guilt about her choice either, despite admitting that she could easily see all her relatives as they’re buried or cremated in the same place.

‘I don’t [feel guilty], I don’t.’ she said.

‘They’ve got a headstone so there’s a place to go and all my other relatives who have passed away are all in the same place.’

She went on to admit that she also hasn’t visited them since laying them to rest.

‘No I don’t [visit them], and I haven’t since I was placed there,’ she revealed.

‘But that isn’t because I don’t love my mum or dad and I don’t think about them – especially at Christmas time, but for me, going there, I’ve got this thing, “why am I going there?”.

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It comes after Coleen fought back tears on Loose Women last month as she revealed the heartbreaking reason she doesn’t visit her family’s graves

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Coleen has had a heartbreaking few years as her family has been beset by tragedy including the death of her sister Bernie in 2010 and the tragic passing of her mother Maureen in 2007

‘They don’t know whether I’ve been here or not. They’re not here.’

Coleen then described how her sister Linda had brought the ashes of her husband, who had tragically passed away, back with her from the funeral and kept them in the house.

The media personality explained that this had brought her an immense amount of joy and changed her perspective on grieving and burials.

She explained that when Linda brought him back to the house her ‘first instinct was “he’s home”‘.

She added: ‘He’s back home and he’s in the warm, and the telly’s on and he loves that programme and we both loved it and were on such a high.

‘And I said to my kids, I don’t care where you stick me, you can stick me under the sink with all the bleach, but I want to come home. I just want to come home.’

Urinary incontinence

According to the NHS, Urinary incontinence is the unintentional passing of urine. It’s a common problem thought to affect millions of people.

Causes:  

– Stress incontinence is usually the result of the weakening of or damage to the muscles used to prevent urination, such as the pelvic floor muscles and the urethral sphincter.

– Urge incontinence is usually the result of overactivity of the detrusor muscles, which control the bladder.

– Overflow incontinence is often caused by an obstruction or blockage in your bladder, which prevents it from emptying fully.

– Total incontinence may be caused by a problem with the bladder from birth, a spinal injury, or a small, tunnel like hole that can form between the bladder and a nearby area (fistula).

Certain things can increase the chances of urinary incontinence, including:

– Pregnancy and vaginal birth

– Obesity

– A family history of incontinence

– Increasing age

Treatments: 

– Lifestyle changes such as losing weight and cutting down on caffeine and alcohol

– Pelvic floor exercises, where you strengthen your pelvic floor muscles by squeezing them

– Bladder training, where you learn ways to wait longer between needing to urinate and passing urine