If you are a woman suffering from urinary urgency, leakage, or frequency–in other words, urinary incontinence of some form–then you know that it can be embarrassing to discuss your condition with your doctor.
Whether you have actually been to see a doctor about your condition or not, you know about the embarrassment factor, either actual or anticipated. You know about it as a patient. We know about the embarrassment factor from the other side of the exam table, as it were. In our practices, we see women all the time who have mustered up the courage to come see us, to tell us about their urinary incontinence, and to ask for help. We have seen the embarrassment first hand… and we do everything in our power to help these women overcome that feeling.
We are gentle when asking the woman about her symptoms, and we try to allow the woman to talk about her situation at her own pace, and in her own way. We try to be as sympathetic and empathetic as possible, especially since we have suffered from urinary urgency, leakage, and frequency ourselves!
Does that mean that we are the ideal and perfect healthcare practitioner for every woman who comes to see us? No. As much as we attempt to be patient-centered in our approach, sometimes we just do not achieve the perfect fit. Either our patient does not feel she is getting what she needs from us, or we do not feel we can help the woman with the tools we have in our repertoire.
What then?
The Value of a Second Opinion (or Third)
At the point that we realize that we have not achieved a good fit with our patient, we suggest the patient seek a second opinion, or even a third opinion.
Since talking about symptoms like urinary urgency and leakage is embarrassing enough the first time around, we realize that asking the patient to seek a second opinion is asking them to risk embarrassment yet again. At the same time, we know that women’s urinary incontinence is a health condition that often requires the affected woman to be persistent in her journey to find the right solutions for her condition.
Every woman affected by urinary incontinence is different in terms of which solutions will be effective. For some, the immediate solution offered by surgery (should surgery be recommended) is appealing. For others, the use of medication combined with dietary changes seems right. Still others find the side effects of medication to be intolerable, and prefer to try a pelvic floor muscle exercise program combined with other forms of exercise for weight loss.
The point is this: if you are affected by women’s urinary incontinence, your fastest route to cure is to find a healthcare practitioner with whom you can explore and find your perfect solutions. Your healthcare practitioner needs to be a good match for your preferences (conservative therapies versus surgery, for instance) and your willingness to explore options until you find the ones that work for your symptoms.
If finding the “right” practitioner for you means risking the embarrassment of telling your story to more than one doctor, then so be it. Believe us when we say that having a healthcare practitioner who is truly your ally is worth the potential embarrassment of seeking a second–or even third–opinion.
Remember, too, that you don’t have to limit your search for solutions to medical doctors. While we definitely suggest that you get a correct medical diagnosis from a medical doctor first, from there do not be afraid to expand your search for a healthcare provider to physical therapists, urologists, gynecologists, Pilates instructors specializing in women’s pelvic health, and more. Go where your need and your symptoms take you.
If you don’t yet feel comfortable reaching out for that second or third opinion, but prefer to educate yourself on your condition, consider reading our guide to women’s pelvic health, “A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Health”.
This guide includes not only a pelvic health self-assessment, but also a complete at-home pelvic floor rehabilitation program. Best of all, you can educate yourself with this book in the privacy of your own home, avoiding the embarrassment factor altogether!
If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.