Losing control of your bladder function is embarrassing enough because you might have to live with urine leakages even when you perform other body functions like sneezing. Worse enough, when urinating is sudden and strong, you do not get to the toilet in time. You do not have to live with urinary incontinence when Bellingham Urology Group specializes in offering treatments to help you manage the incontinence.
Treatment may revolve around medications, therapy, and surgery, depending on the severity and type of urinary incontinence. Here is a discussion of your doctor’s treatment options for urinary incontinence.
Behavioral Techniques
During your treatment, your doctor may recommend beginning with bladder training, where you delay urination after the urge comes. You may begin by holding it off for up to 10 minutes every time you have the urge so you can lengthen the time between your toilet trips until you urinate.
Secondly, your doctor may help you learn double voiding to lower overflow incontinence, where you urinate and then wait a few minutes and try again. Another behavioral technique may include fluid and diet management to help you regain your bladder control. Your doctor may ask you to reduce caffeine and alcohol.
Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises
Also known as Kegel exercises, your doctor may recommend them frequently to strengthen your pelvic muscles, which control urination. Kegel exercises can be an effective technique for stress and urge incontinence. During your exercises, your doctor will ask you to tighten your muscles and hold them as if trying to stop urine flow. You will then work up to hold your contractions for up to ten seconds while aiming for at least three sets of ten repetitions daily.
Medications
Your doctor may recommend anticholinergic to help calm an overactive bladder while also helping with urge incontinence. Mirabegron can treat urge incontinence by relaxing your bladder muscle and increasing the amount of urine your bladder can hold. Your doctor can recommend alpha-blockers if you are a man experiencing urge and overflow incontinence to relax muscle fibers in your prostate and make it easier to empty your bladder.
Injections
Your doctor can inject synthetic material into the tissue surrounding your urethra to help keep it closed and reduce leakage. Bulking material injections may work for stress incontinence, and you may need to repeat injections to help it work. Another injection your doctor may recommend can be Botox, especially if you have an overactive bladder and are experiencing urge incontinence.
Surgery
You may need surgery if previous treatments do not address your urinary incontinence. You can undergo prolapse surgery for mixed incontinence, with a combination of a sling procedure. Your doctor may also recommend InterStim surgery, where they implant an electrode next to your sacral nerves to help you regain bladder control and function.
Urinary incontinence can result from daily lifestyle practices, underlying medical conditions, and physical problems. Usually, you will lose bladder control and experience occasional leaking when you sneeze and cough. Sometimes, you may have a sudden and strong urge to urinate that you do not reach the toilet in time.
A few lifestyle changes and a tweak in your diet can treat your symptoms. However, if you have severe symptoms, your doctor may recommend Kegel exercises, injections, and surgery as a last resort if other treatments fail to provide relief.
