There are times in life where the best option we have for a particular issue is simply to mitigate it and manage it as best we can. So when it comes to incontinence and figuring out the best form of management for you it’s natural to try and figure out the pros and cons of each option.
As someone who has not only worn diapers for my own issues for years but who has also spoken with many others who have incontinence issues, I can say with some degree of confidence that when compared with other options disposable diapers are the best way to go.
Here is a table of the pros and cons of disposable adult diapers that I think you should consider.
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Keeps Clothes and Furniture Clean | Produces A Lot Of Waste |
| Easy to Change At Home Or On The Go | Has A High Monthly Cost |
| They Are Comfortable To Wear | Sometimes The Tapes Are A Problem |
| More Mobility and Freedom | Can Make You Feel Self Conscious |
| Convenience Due To Being Able To Throw It Away | Requires You To Carry A Change With You |
| Very Little Additional Health Complications | Sometimes You Get A Diaper Rash |
To fully understand the pros and cons listed above we will need to elaborate on them a bit further. At a brief glance pros like “they are comfortable to wear” and “more mobility and freedom” might be hard to understand without further context.
Comparing Adult Diapers To ALL Other Forms of Management
To understand the pros and cons better we need to understand what we are comparing adult diapers to. For the purposes of this article, we are effectively comparing the option of using disposable tape up adult diapers against ALL OTHER potential methods for managing incontinence.
This means we are comparing it to disposable pull ups, reusable pull ups, adult cloth diapers, all types of catheters, and even colostomy bags.
I do need to add, in case it isn’t already obvious by this site or my content, that I am obviously heavily biased towards diapers as the best form of management as that is what I chose to do myself.
Happiness is the most important thing to consider when weighing your options.
While I personally think my life would be worse with something like a colostomy bag I have very little experience with them or what it is like to live with one. There are studies, like the one you can find here, that say many who have chosen to go that route are perfectly happy with their decision and would do it again.
I think happiness is the most important thing to consider when weighing your options as well. I personally am very happy managing my incontinence with the use of adult diapers while someone else out there is made miserable by it.
So when considering the options available to you and your situation be sure to ask yourself if you can see yourself being happy with whatever approach you decide to take. Find those who took the route you are considering and hear how it impacted their life.
If you’re here it’s likely because you are considering diapers as a potential option. Check out this article I wrote here to learn about the various reasons that adults use diapers for the most!
The Pros Of Using Disposable Adult Diapers
Now that we’ve got some of the caveats out of the way let’s examine our list of pros a bit more deeply. Each one deserves a bit more elaboration to better understand.
- Keeps clothes and furniture clean. I think this one is rather obvious in the context of incontinence issues. That said, some people find it funny when I list it as a perk of wearing diapers but that is because those people are thinking about it from a fully functioning body kind of perspective.
- Easy to change at home or on the go. This one may be a bit less obvious if you’re not thinking about what the alternatives are. With adult pull ups you would need to take your shoes and pants off to put a fresh one on. Needless to say this is not ideal when you’re out and about. (For advice on how to know when you should change click here!)
- They are comfortable to wear. Here again we are comparing it to the average adult pull up, which generally don’t fit very well and as a result are very uncomfortable. Not just because they don’t fit well either. They don’t absorb as much leading to discomfort. The same thing can be said of cloth products as well. In general they don’t wick enough of the moisture away fast enough which can lead to discomfort. Cloth diapers are A LOT thicker too. All of these things add up to increased levels of discomfort.
- More mobility and freedom. Take this one with a huge grain of salt as I am making some assumptions here but I would think that having a bag strapped to my leg and a tube connected to my…err…equipment, would make physical activity difficult and dangerous. Perhaps I’m way off on this one but I never feel the need to restrict myself from doing the things that I want to do physically while wearing diapers. I can’t see myself doing some of the things I like to do with a catheter or colostomy bag.
- Convenience due to being able to throw it away. I think this one is probably self explanatory but any kind of reusable product will require you to carry it the rest of the day. So any cloth pull ups or adult cloth diapers would need to be tied up in some plastic bags and carried with you for the rest of your day. A very wet diaper can be quite weighty too.
- Very little additional health complications. Pretty much every form of incontinence management brings with it some additional health complications. Catheters and colostomy bags can bring with them a whole bunch of additional health complications. The worst additional thing you get from diapers is diaper rash. Sometimes people CAN get UTI’s and yeast infections but these are extremely rare for the vast majority of people who wear diapers.
As you can see there are things to consider with each potential option you choose. Some of those things will be good while others will be bad.
Speaking of the bad, let’s quickly touch on all the cons and elaborate a bit more on those too.
The Cons of Using Disposable Adult Diapers
I think the cons listed in the table above require a bit less context to understand but let’s run through them really quick anyways.
- Produces a lot of waste. This one is probably rather obvious but disposable diapers produce a horrifying amount of waste. Unfortunately they are a necessary product to use for millions of people around the world. I personally think the best solution to this problem is to develop better systems and machines to recycle them. They do exist already but we’ll have to cover that in a different article.
- Has a high monthly cost. This particular con may vary depending on what country you live in. Some countries with Universal Healthcare have options that will provide you with products. Here in the United States, the list of products most insurance companies will cover (or merely assist in getting) are generally inferior products. Adult diapers and other incontinence products can cost anywhere from $120 – $300 a month.
- Sometimes the tapes are a problem. This one can actually go in both directions. Sometimes you can get a package of diapers where the tapes are faulty and don’t stick due to manufacturing error. Other times you might be trying a new product only to discover the tapes come undone or pop off while you’re wearing it. Occasionally you might try a product where they stick too good and are very difficult to rip off. This can be especially tough for anyone with hand issues or other mobililty issues.
- They can make you feel self conscious. There are so many reasons for this feeling that it’s hard to elaborate on concisely. First is the psychological stigma attached to needing such a product. A lot of people get hung up on the fact that it looks and is shaped just like a baby diaper. Beyond that, whether anyone knows they’re wearing it or not, they feel like everyone will know. When one hears the crinkle of their own diaper they cringe and feel super self aware of it. When one notices the thickness between their legs, they again will feel self conscious. That said, the self consciousness of these things pales in comparison to the self conscious embarassment of a public accident.
- Requires you to carry a change. I wasn’t entirely sure I should list this as a con as pretty much any other form of management would require you to carry supplies with you of some sort. Having to always have supplies packed and a game plan for what you will do when you need to change can be a bit of a drag though. Changing in public is yet one more of those things that leads to very self conscious feelings too.
- Sometimes you get a diaper rash. This is another one that is a slight drawback but when compared to the health complications of a catheter is nothing. Plus, it’s largely avoidable as long as you take care to change as needed and properly clean yourself up diaper rashes should be rare. They may be a problem at first but hopefully through the tips on this site and in my YouTube videos you can successfully avoid them altogether.
There may be other pros and cons that didn’t make either of these lists but overall I find that these are the main things for you to consider.
If you’re reading this article because you or someone you care about has been wetting the bed, here’s a great article on how to know when you should be wearing diapers to bed! Check this out next!