Incontinence in Women

If you are faced with the problem of urinary incontinence, then you should remember that only a doctor, even in the most difficult cases, can choose the only correct treatment. Having an open conversation with your doctor about your urinary incontinence problem is a critical step toward determining treatment and returning you to a full, active life.

For women with stress urinary incontinence, the first step to recovery is usually Kegel exercises, which help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles:

1. The first exercise can be performed in any position, it is only important that the muscles of the abdomen, buttocks and legs are relaxed. You should make squeezing movements of the muscles around the anus several times, as if preventing bowel movement. Performed several times a day at every opportunity.

2. Exercise while urinating. You should hold the stream for a while and then start again. This strengthens the anterior group of pelvic floor muscles. One of the variations of this exercise can be carried out in any situation: a woman only needs to imagine that she is trying to pinch a tampon that is slipping out.

3. An exercise combining the first and second exercises. You need to start by relaxing and then slowly contracting the pelvic floor muscles, starting with the back group and then involving the front. One cycle of the exercise is done for four counts. Repeat for two minutes at least three times a day.

There are general recommendations, the implementation of which can significantly alleviate the situation, and in some cases will help completely get rid of the disease:

1. It is advisable to reduce the amount of fluid consumed and exclude from the diet foods that have a diuretic effect, for example, coffee, alcohol, grapefruit juice.

2. Constipation should be dealt with. In some cases, constipation may be the only cause of urinary incontinence, but even if this is not the case, getting rid of constipation can significantly alleviate the incontinence situation.

3. You need to try to quit smoking and lose excess weight. Nicotine stimulates the smooth muscles of the bladder, and thanks to weight loss, intra-abdominal pressure is significantly reduced, which can provoke unwanted urination.

4. Important rule. If you have already emptied your bladder, stand up and then sit down again and try to empty it a second time. Do this whenever you empty your bladder.

In addition to muscle training and educational therapy, there are also new treatment methods. Stress urinary incontinence usually cannot be treated with medication. In some cases where incontinence is associated with estrogen deficiency, hormone replacement therapy is an option.

It is well known that surgical treatment is the most effective and gives reliable, stable results. There are many different surgeries, depending on the specific type or cause of urinary incontinence.

Many women are afraid of pain and the recovery period, and therefore have a negative attitude towards the possibility of surgery. However, some techniques currently known are simpler and more gentle than those previously used.

Such operations include, for example, the TVT (Free Synthetic Loop) system. This is a new, surgical method that provides effective and reliable results for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women. To date, more than 70,000 women around the world have been treated with TVT. Clinical studies have shown the surgery to have a 95 percent success rate, with most patients reporting immediate improvement.

The essence of the operation is as follows. Normally, the urethra is tightly closed to prevent involuntary leakage of urine. In women with stress incontinence, weakened pelvic floor muscles are unable to support the urethra in the correct position. During surgery using the TVT system, the surgeon restores the normal position of the urethra by inserting a mesh tape to provide support from below. After surgery l