The commercial for the Poise Impressa bladder supports promises I’ll be able to laugh without leaks—quite the guarantee. Living with urinary incontinence means that sometimes I get anxious about coughing, bending down, or even laughing. I was interested in trying out this product because I don’t really like wearing pads all month long. The week of my period is more than enough time to have a great big cotton wedgie, thank you very much.
The Poise Impressa is a fluted internal and nonabsorbent bladder support that goes inside the vagina and works by pressing against the urethra to keep it closed and offer a little extra support.
To try it, the first thing to do is get your hands on the sizing kit, because everyone is different. The sizing process involves inserting the smallest Impressa (of three different sizes) and seeing how it feels. If you still experience leaks, you move on to the next size; just like Goldilocks, you’re looking for the one that feels just right. The Poise bladder support is inserted just like a tampon: You find a comfortable position and, using the applicator, you push it into your vagina, making sure the string is hanging outside your body. I took the support out of the applicator to see what it looks like; it reminded me of a tea bag, and it’s flexible and soft.
I started with the smallest size, but even that is definitely bigger than regular tampons, and I found it uncomfortable to insert, especially as I wasn’t menstruating (you cannot use Impressa when you have your period) so there was no lubrication to help. I was quite aware of the support while it was inserted, although I noticed that I didn’t leak at all. I ended up removing it after an hour or two because it was pretty uncomfortable, and removing it was particularly unpleasant, like trying to remove a very dry tampon.
The next day I gave it another go and found it easier, especially because I used some lubricant this time to ease the support into place. I watched a comedy and had a few belly laughs without incident. Overall, I found that the Poise Impressa worked well at giving me an internal lift and did stop my light leakage, but it wasn’t that comfortable and I was aware of it at all times. I would use one if I had a special occasion or if I wanted to wear an outfit where perhaps a pad would show. But for everyday protection, I’ll be reluctantly sticking with pads.
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