Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence, the involuntary leakage of urine, frequently is not reported and discussed during health interviews despite it’s often huge impact on quality of life. Approximately 10-30% of women will develop urinary incontinence by age 64. It can be associated with urinary tract infections and bladder cancer and cause vaginal infections. It can have a psychological impact with worry about the scent of urine and control how you plan your day and activity level. It is not an inevitable part of normal aging and it usually can be effectively treated.
Bladder testing can be done in the Doctor’s office and testing is necessary to determine the cause of urinary incontinence. There can be multiple factors contributing to urine leakage and each type of incontinence is treated differently. Bladder testing is usually a 30-60 minute appointment. The doctor can usually tell you immediately after testing what type of urinary incontinence there is and recommend appropriate dietary changes, exercises, medicines or minimally invasive surgery.
When urine leakage occurs only with certain activities such as lifting, running, coughing or climbing stairs, it is called stress incontinence. Minimally invasive outpatient surgery with minimal down time is often 100% effective in treating this kind of incontinence and allows you to return to a more active lifestyle again. The procedure Dr. Smith uses is Gynecare TVT and he is very experienced with this outpatient procedure with women often having a less than 5-hour stay at the surgery center. Over 1.5 million women have had this procedure done. For more information about this procedure, and a full discussion of urinary incontinence visit the links above.
