In the 1980, Kimberly-Clark was a major manufacturer of female hygiene products including tampons. That year, women began mysteriously dying after contracting bacteria-caused illnesses. Many of them wore tampons shortly before they died and the fatal phenomenon known as toxic shock syndrome was forever linked with the feminine products. Tampon sales plunged and Kimberly-Clark was in desperate need of a new high-selling product. That’s when the large multinational company began making commercials featuring gray-haired people happily frolicking and smiling. These people, the commercials were saying, were having a full life thanks to their new incontinence pads. The commercials made Depends a household name and made the embarrassing subject of bladder control normal everyday conversation spoken about in people’s living rooms.

Sales of Incontinence Pads Part of Multibillion-Dollar Industry

In the 1980s Kimberly-Clark may have been alone in advertising incontinence pads and other medical supplies associated with incontinence but it is far from the sole proprietor today. With more than 25 million Americans estimated to suffer from incontinence, the industry has seen an explosion in growth. According to the Association of the Nonwoven Fabric Industry, (INDA) a trade organization for man-made fabric products, Americans spent more than $2 billion on incontinence medical supplies. This figure lags behind the $4 billion baby diaper industry, but researchers at the INDA say the industry has increased upwards of 5% a year for some time. Incontinence, it seems, is a growth industry.

Incontinence Pads Popular for Convenience

Often wrongly called “adult diapers,” incontinence pads are anything but this derogatory term. With advertisement featuring women leaping for joy or decked out in a silky after-five dress, incontinence pads are promoted as sleek, comfortable “underwear,” that are super absorbent. While some look like actual pads, albeit extra absorbent ones, other pads do look like diapers with elastic waistlines and adhesive side hook ups. But many incontinence pads are made in the image of thin, plastic, more absorbent underwear. Think boxer and briefs that can hold the moisture of a Bounty paper towel. The pads may seem awkward at first but most are thinner than can believed and more absorbent than can be described. No matter their looks, these pads have given many older adults and other suffering from incontinence a new lease on life and the ability to enjoy activities such as running, walking and being outside without the worry of embarrassing one’s self.