You know the feeling: you’re suddenly overcome with the need to get to the restroom fast in the middle of a perfectly normal activity. Or you experience a sudden release of urine that came on with absolutely no warning at all. These experiences can be frustrating and disruptive, but they aren’t uncommon. Urinary incontinence is more common than you may think.
At Interior Women’s Health, Karl Baurick, MD, and Doris Heilman, MD, help many women from Fairbanks, Alaska, and the surrounding region find relief from urinary incontinence. Some estimates suggest that nearly 60% of women experience some form of urinary incontinence, and many have more than one incident each month.
At the root level, urinary incontinence involves a loss of bladder control. However, there are several ways in which this condition can present itself.
Stress incontinence is perhaps the most common, and your risk level rises as you move through middle age and beyond. If you find yourself involuntarily leaking urine when you cough, laugh, exercise, or lift something heavy, you may have stress incontinence.
Urge incontinence is just what it sounds like. It’s the sudden, undeniable need to urinate and the release of urine if you can’t get to the bathroom quickly enough. This is another common type of urinary incontinence.
Functional incontinence happens when a health condition or physical limitation prevents you from going to the bathroom in time. For example, women with advanced arthritis can struggle to unfasten their clothing quickly enough, and those who rely on a walker or cane can find themselves unable to reach the toilet quickly enough.
Overflow incontinence happens when your bladder cannot always empty entirely. Women with this type of incontinence notice frequent release of small volumes of urine.
It’s also possible to experience more than one form of urinary incontinence. When this occurs, it’s referred to as mixed incontinence.
Urinary incontinence is incredibly common among women. While it can develop at any age, it’s most likely to occur as you move into your 50s and beyond. If you’ve experienced childbirth, your risk level also rises, and having multiple children further increases the chances that you’ll eventually experience incontinence.
Here are some additional factors that can cause or contribute to urinary incontinence:
As you can see, some of these factors are within your control, but many are not. Fortunately, there are treatments that can help you regain control of your bladder, no matter the cause of urinary incontinence.
You don’t have to live with the disruption and embarrassment of urinary incontinence. The Interior Women’s Health team can help determine the cause of your bladder control issues and explore available treatment options.
There are numerous ways to improve your bladder health. Some are simple exercises you can do at home and changes you can make to your daily routines. Many women find relief through medication and injectable treatments. An insertable device called a pessary can help prevent urine leakage.
Safe electrical stimulation is also an option to improve your bladder control. Mona Lisa Touch® is a noninvasive laser treatment that prompts your body to remodel vaginal and surrounding tissue, which in turn improves bladder function in many women.
There are even surgical solutions when less invasive treatment options can’t deliver the desired improvements. At Interior Women’s Health, you can access the latest treatments delivered by women’s health specialists who care deeply about improving your quality of life. Book your visit today by calling the office or setting up an appointment on the online scheduling page.
