Urinary Incontinence

| Print | E-mail

Frequently Asked Questions About Urinary Incontinence

How common is urinary incontinence among women?
Incontinence is a common and very treatable condition affecting nearly 12 million American adults.

What causes urinary incontinence?
There are several things that can cause urinary incontinence.  These include infection, obesity, chronic straining and lifting, caffeinated beverages, and neurologic diseases, to name a few of the more common causes.

Types of urinary incontinence:

Stress incontinence
The loss of urine when you exert pressure (stress) on your bladder through coughing, sneezing, laughing, exercising, or lifting something heavy.

Urge incontinence
The sudden and intense urge to urinate, followed by an involuntary loss of urine. You may also need to urinate frequently.

Overflow incontinence
Being unable to empty your bladder, causing the bladder to overflow and leak frequently or continually. This is unusual in women.

Mixed incontinence
If you experience symptoms of more than one type of urinary incontinence, you have mixed incontinence.

What are the most common and effective treatments available?

Behavioral techniques
Lifestyle changes that include specialized exercises, bladder training, fluid and diet management, and physical therapy.

Medications
There are a number of medications available depending on what type of incontinence you experience.  Medications are usually used in conjunction with behavioral techniques.

Electrical stimulation and biofeedback done by a physical therapist specially trained to help women with pelvic floor disorders
Electrodes are placed in your vagina or rectum.  Pulses of energy stimulate the pelvic floor muscles to strengthen them.

Medical devices
There are several devices that can be placed in the urethra or vagina to prevent leaks temporarily.

Surgery
There are numerous surgical options available to women today.  Many are minimally-invasive outpatient procedures, requiring little or no hospital stay, and a short recovery time.

I’ve heard that surgery doesn’t work for very long.  Is that true?
In the appropriate patient the success rate of a sling urethropexy is 90 percent.  Patients with obesity, other medical conditions such as diabetes, or smokers may have less success.

I’ve heard that slings made of synthetic mesh can be harmful or cause problems.  Is that true?
The sling material is made of polypropylene and has been used in the US since 1996 with excellent result.  There are risks to suing the mesh, including the mesh eroding into the urethra or vagina and thereby becoming infected.  This is not a common problem.  The FDA posted a mesh warning to all patients and physicians using mesh in the vagina in 1008.  The sling procedure is the old standard throughout the world for use in patients with stress incontinence.

How can I prevent urinary incontinence?
One of the best ways to prevent stress incontinence is to do regular Kegel exercise.  Pilates is another option for women to strengthen their pelvic floor muscles.  Keeping your weight in a healthy zone and avoiding excessive caffeine will definitely help.