Female Urinary Incontinence

What are the types of urinary incontinence?

There are 4 types of urinary incontinence that are most common in women:

Stress Urinary Incontinence

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common, treatable condition in which sudden movements put stress on the bladder, causing urine to leak out involuntarily.

Stress urinary incontinence is one of the most common types of urinary incontinence among women. Because bladder leakage can be embarrassing, many women don’t talk about SUI or realize how common it is.

You may have stress urinary incontinence if you’ve leaked out urine involuntarily while:

• Laughing
• Sneezing
• Jumping
• Standing up or lying down
• Lifting something heavy
• Exercising

What causes Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)?

Stress urinary incontinence occurs when pelvic muscles supporting the bladder and urethra have been damaged or weakened, so that they may not hold the urethra in its correct position. Sudden movements from the diaphragm put stress on the bladder, causing the urethra to lose its seal and allowing urine to leak out.

Am I at risk of having stress urinary incontinence?

You are at risk of having stress urinary incontinence if you have the following:

• Pregnancy and childbirth
• Frequent heavy lifting
• Estrogen deficiency or menopause
• Obesity

Is my stress urinary incontinence treatable?

Many women assume stress urinary incontinence is just a natural part of aging or an inevitable consequence of having children.

Misconceptions like these prevent many women from getting the treatment that is readily available and they deserve.

Consider this:

• About 1 in 3 women suffers from stress urinary incontinence.
• Over 50% of women with stress urinary incontinence have never mentioned it to their doctor.

Why keep planning your life around bladder leakage if you don’t have to?

What are the treatment options for my stress urinary incontinence?

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is treatable at any age, but not all approaches work for every person or for every type of incontinence. There are a variety of treatment options.

• Behavioral / Muscle Therapy : Therapy often starts with Kegel exercises to help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Depending on the severity of your condition, however, Kegels may not bring sufficient relief.

• Biofeedback : In this method, you exercise the pelvic floor muscles while connected to an electrical sensing device. The device provides “feedback” to help you learn how to better control these muscles. Over time, biofeedback can help you use your pelvic muscles to decrease sudden urges to urinate and lessen certain types of pelvic pain.

• Electrical stimulation : This approach aids pelvic floor exercises by isolating the muscles involved for extra stimulus.

• Medication : There is currently no medication approved to treat stress urinary incontinence.

While mild symptoms of incontinence may be treated using the methods described above, women with more serious symptoms may respond best to a surgical procedure.

Today’s minimally invasive options mean you may be able to treat incontinence with a simple outpatient procedure. In one type of treatment, your surgeon inserts a tape-like strip of mesh through very small incisions in the abdomen or vagina to support the urethra. The mesh acts as a supportive sling, allowing the urethra to stay closed when appropriate.

Be sure to talk to a doctor about the treatment options that may be best for you.

Want to regain your freedom from Urinary Incontinence?