Great news! You have plenty of treatment options, and the outlook is good. About 80% of those who are affected by urinary incontinence can get better with treatment. Sometimes a tiny dietary change, as simple as cutting back on fluids, is all that is needed.
Your doctor may recommend that you do Kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and to use pads or disposable underwear just in case. Experiment it yourself to see what you’re comfortable with that works best for you.
We understand that living with incontinence can be quite stressful and depressing, especially with urge incontinence because it’s so unpredictable. Know there are plenty of treatment options available for you to try on your own or with the support of a doctor.
Talk about what’s going with your partner and others close to you. It could make your life easier if they know, and they will want to be there for you. If you and your friends and family focus on solutions, you’ll probably feel better.
Treatments
- Medical Devices
- Urethral insert: Somewhat like a tampon, this disposable device can serve as a barrier to leaks during special activities.
- Catheters: A catheter is a thin, flexible tube that goes into your urethra to drain your bladder. Men can wear a condom-like catheter device that fits over the penis. The catheter drains urine into a bag.
- Vaginal pessary: If your bladder has prolapsed (dropped), this ring-like device can act as support. It’ll be inserted and fitted in the doctor’s office. It’ll need to be removed and cleaned, and can help avoid surgery.
- Bulking Agents
Fillers injection such as carbon beads and collagen help by plumping up the tissues where urine is released from your bladder, and help hold it in. This treatment is only used for stress incontinence. The fillers can go away with time, so you might need to have it done again.
- Surgery
If other methods for helping stress incontinence don’t work, your doctor might recommend surgery. These operations have very high success rates.
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- Sling procedure:
This is the most common. Your doctor will fashion a “hammock” using mesh and tissue to support your urethra. It can be done as outpatient surgery with local anaesthesia. This means you will be awake during the procedure and go home the same day.
- Sling procedure:
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- Retropubic colposuspension:
Your doctor might choose this method, along with a combo of others, if your bladder has dropped — your doctor might use the term “prolapsed.” He’ll use stitches to lift up and support tissues at the entrance to your bladder.
- Retropubic colposuspension:
- Non-invasive High Intensity Focused Electro-Magnetic (HIFEM) treatment
HIFEM technology treatment is a completely painless, non-invasive and non-surgical procedure used to improve the symptoms of incontinence and can be carried out in 28 minutes per session.Unlike many non-surgical incontinence treatments, it is completely non-invasive and can be carried out fully clothed.You would be amazed at how simple and straightforward the treatment is. All you need to do is just to sit on the Emsella chair that uses HIFEM (High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic) frequencies to independently target the pelvic floor muscles. This causes the muscles to contract and release, in the same way standard kegel exercises do.However, with the Emsella chair, the muscles are given a workout equivalent to 11,000 kegel exercises per treatment session.
This treatment is rather new but it is proven to help 95% of patients to improve their incontinence.