Incontinence Specialist

What causes incontinence?

Urinary incontinence occurs when you leak urine, whether you lose a small amount or uncontrollably empty your bladder. Incontinence develops when you have overactive bladder muscles, nerve damage, or weak pelvic floor muscles.

The pelvic floor muscles span the bottom of your pelvic area, where they hold your uterus, vagina, and bladder in place. They also control the release of urine.

These muscles stretch out and weaken during pregnancy and vaginal childbirth. Hormone changes at menopause and natural muscle degeneration as you age also weaken the pelvic floor muscles.

What type of incontinence might I develop?

There are three primary types of urinary incontinence, but you can have stress and urge incontinence at the same time:

Stress incontinence

Stress incontinence occurs when pressure placed on your abdomen causes urine leakage. Weak pelvic floor muscles let the urine leak out when your abdominal muscles tighten. That often occurs when you laugh, sneeze, cough, or lift a heavy object.

Urge incontinence (overactive bladder)

Urge incontinence occurs when your bladder muscles suddenly tighten. As the muscles contract, you have a sudden and very urgent need to urinate and may not make it to the bathroom in time to prevent leakage.

Nerve problems, hormonal changes, diabetes, and urinary tract infections represent a few of the problems responsible for an overactive bladder.

Overflow incontinence

This type of incontinence develops when your bladder gets too full. When that happens, you can leak urine even though you don’t feel the need to urinate. Overflow incontinence typically develops due to weak bladder muscles, a blockage like bladder stones, or nerve damage.

How is incontinence treated?

The team at Obstetricians & Gynecologists, PC, provides many treatments for incontinence. During your first appointment, they review your symptoms and do a pelvic exam. Then they may do additional diagnostics such as a urinalysis, ultrasound imaging, or urodynamic testing. Urodynamic tests provide information about your urine flow rate and the health of your bladder.

After determining the cause of your incontinence, your provider recommends one or more of the following:

• Diet adjustments
• Pelvic floor exercises
• Bladder retraining
• Medications
• Urethral bulking injections
• Botox® injections
• InterStim™ neuromodulation
  
  

If you don’t respond to conservative treatments and you have stress incontinence, your provider may repair the problem with a sling procedure. The sling procedure is minimally invasive; it involves your provider reinforcing your pelvic floor muscles.

Don’t put up with incontinence. Call Obstetricians & Gynecologists, PC, or book an appointment online today to get an effective treatment that stops urine leaks.