Urinary Incontinence Treatment

What is incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is a medical condition involving the uncontrollable leaking of urine. It’s typically the symptom of a disease or an underlying medical condition, such as pelvic organ prolapse, when the tissues and muscles supporting the pelvic organs become loose or weak.

Your bladder and your brain control your urinary functioning. Your bladder stores urine while your surrounding pelvic muscles hold your bladder securely in place. Sphincter muscles are the muscles close to your urethra, the tube that carries urine out of your body.

The sphincter muscles effectively prevent urine from leaking. When you’re ready to urinate, your brain communicates with your bladder to open your sphincter muscles and contract your bladder muscles.

What are the types of incontinence?

There are four types of urinary incontinence.

Overactive bladder

Overactive bladder (OAB) involves an uncontrollable, frequent, and rapid urge to urinate. OAB usually occurs due to overactive bladder muscle spasms or when your brain communicates to your bladder and instructs it to empty even when it isn’t full.

Stress urinary incontinence

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is often the result of stretched and weakened pelvic muscles and connective tissue that enable urine to pass through.

Mixed incontinence

Mixed incontinence is a combination of both overactive bladder and stress incontinence.

Overflow incontinence

Overflow incontinence occurs either when your body produces more urine than your bladder can hold or when your bladder becomes full and can’t empty adequately. There may also be a blockage or nerve damage.

How is incontinence diagnosed and treated?

Dr. Jones offers various tests, including urodynamic testing, to examine how well your bladder, urethra, and sphincter store and release urine. The urodynamic tests show if your bladder is having involuntary contractions and assess your bladder’s ability to hold and empty urine.

Dr. Jones provides a number of treatments for incontinence, including medications, procedures, and behavioral therapy. Some of these treatments include:

Bladder suspension

Bladder suspension is a procedure to add support to the bladder neck and urethra, typically with sutures.

Vaginal rejuvenation

Vaginal rejuvenation refers to treatments and procedures, usually involving involving surgical technology that addresses physical changes.

Behavioral therapy

Behavioral therapy for urinary incontinence includes bladder training, habit training, pelvic muscle exercises, and biofeedback to strengthen physical and mental limitations that might influence incontinence.

Tension-free vaginal taping

Tension-free vaginal taping (TVT) is a minimally invasive procedure where Dr. Jones places a small piece of polypropylene tape around the pubic bones under your urethra to help close the urethra.

Don’t just deal with the troubles of urinary incontinence. Call Ozark OBGYN or schedule an appointment online to check out the available treatments.