What is urinary incontinence?
If you suffer from urinary incontinence, it means that you have difficulty controlling your bladder and urine stream. It can cause embarrassing urine leaks when you cough, sneeze, or have a strong, sudden urge to urinate. Dr. Buschemeyer and his team offer treatments that can restore your bladder control and quality of life.
What kinds of urinary incontinence are there?
The kinds of urinary incontinence you can experience include:
Urge incontinence
If you suffer from urge incontinence, you have a sudden urge to urinate and can experience involuntary loss of bladder control.
Stress incontinence
Stress incontinence causes urine leaks when you laugh, sneeze, cough, jump, or lift something heavy.
Functional incontinence
A mental or physical impairment, like arthritis, might keep you from making it to the bathroom or unbuttoning your pants before you start to urinate.
Mixed incontinence
If you have mixed urinary incontinence, urine leaks due to a mix of causes characterized by stress, urge, and functional incontinence.
Complications linked with urinary continence include urinary tract infections, skin rashes, and work, school, and relationships problems.
What are the risk factors for urinary incontinence?
Urinary incontinence can happen to anyone, but some things increase your risk of experiencing it. Examples include:
- Older age
- Being a woman
- Pregnancy
- Childbirth
- Obesity
- Smoking
- Neurological diseases
- Diabetes
- Family history of urinary incontinence
While not necessarily a cause for concern, urinary incontinence can lower your quality of life. But you don’t have to live with it.
Ways to lower your risk of urinary incontinence include:
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Avoiding caffeine and alcohol
- Eating high-fiber foods
- Not smoking
Also, regularly doing pelvic floor exercises strengthens those muscles to prevent them from sagging.
How does my doctor diagnose urinary incontinence?
To diagnose urinary incontinence and its cause, Dr. Buschemeyer discusses your symptoms and medical history. He completes a physical exam and recommends that you undergo some basic urine tests. In some cases, he will suggest that you undergo urodynamic testing and/or pelvic ultrasounds.
How is urinary incontinence treated?
Common treatments for urinary incontinence include:
Pelvic floor exercises
Doing pelvic floor exercises strengthens the muscles responsible for bladder control. Strengthening these muscles reduces your risk of urine leaks.
Medications
Taking medications can help you better control your bladder and reduce the risk of embarrassing accidents.
Electrical stimulation
Dr. Buschemeyer and his team offer electrical stimulation to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and reduce urinary incontinence.
Medical devices
Inserting specialized medical devices into the urethra or vagina is another treatment that reduces urine leaks.
Injections
Injecting certain substances into the tissues near your urethra or bladder can reduce the embarrassing symptoms of urinary incontinence.
Nerve stimulation
Nerve stimulators send electrical pulses to stimulate the nerves that control your bladder. Dr. Buschemeyer can implant a tiny stimulator underneath your skin or use vaginal inserts to stimulate nerves and reduce your urinary incontinence.
Surgery
Surgery is another way to treat urinary incontinence. Dr. Buschemeyer can recommend surgery when other incontinence treatments haven’t worked.
Don’t let embarrassing urine leaks affect your quality of life. Simple urinary incontinence treatments are available at the offices of W. Cooper Buschemeyer III, MD. Call the nearest office or book online today.
