Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Understanding Your Water Works

by General Urinary IncontinenceUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

As they say, “Knowledge is power.” If you have women’s urinary incontinence, power means having knowledge about how your urinary system works. After all, if you want to understand why and how you are leaking urine or experiencing urinary urgency or frequency, then you have to first understand how your urinary system works, right?

So… if you want the knowledge that will empower you about your urinary incontinence, prepare yourself for a VERY SIMPLE anatomy lesson on your urinary system. Don’t worry, we’ll keep it simple. We will only relay the facts you absolutely MUST know to understand how your water works, work!

The Parts of Your Urinary System
When your urinary system is healthy, it acts as a well-synchronized system of organs that remove waste from your body. Your urinary system includes:

  • kidneys
  • bladder
  • ureters
  • urinary sphincters
  • urethra
  • your brain

Yup, your brain is part of your urinary system! Your brain sends and receives signals from your organs, coordinating them all so that you arrive at the bathroom in time to urinate.

How Your Urinary System Works
Your urinary system is not complicated, especially when it is working! The whole process starts with your kidneys, which produce urine by filtering waste products and excess water out of your bloodstream. Your kidneys send this waste material to your bladder via tubes called ureters.

Your bladder then stores the urine until you are ready to urinate. Your bladder, a hollow muscular organ that sits in the bowl of your pelvis, should be able to hold one to two cups of urine for up to two to five hours. As your bladder fills, circular muscles (called sphincters) keep the urine in your bladder, preventing leakage.

When your bladder is full, nerves in your bladder send signals to your brain, which results in your feeling the urge to urinate. Hopefully, at that point, you seek out a bathroom in plenty of time, and spell R-E-L-I-E-F. Specifically, when you are ready to urinate, your brain tells those urinary sphincters to relax and your bladder to contract. As a result, urine leaves the bladder, travels through the urethra, and out of your body (and hopefully into the toilet and not onto your panties)!

Not Too Complicated, Right?
So there you have it… the anatomy and workings of your urinary system. When everything works in synchrony, you have no problems. However, when the signals get mixed up along the way, the result is women’s urinary incontinence. The resulting symptoms include urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage. If you have these symptoms, it’s time to schedule an appointment with your doctor or specialist!

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.

 

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: How to Be a Better Patient 5 Ways

by Find the Right DoctorOveractive BladderUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

If you’ve got women’s urinary incontinence, then you probably know that the process of actually becoming a patient–that is, seeing a medical professional–isn’t all that easy. It takes a lot of courage to overcome embarrassment and make an appointment, not to mention show up at the appointment.

If you have already overcome the first hurdle of making an appointment, then make the most of your courageous act by following these 5 tips on how to be a better patient. What do we mean by “a better patient”? We mean an empowered patient. When you are an empowered patient, you are a powerful advocate for your health. You become a powerful force in relieving and even curing your symptoms of women’s urinary incontinence, such as urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage. You become the key to a new sense of freedom for your life.

Sound good? Then read the following tips on how to become a better patient!

How to Be a Better Patient: 5 Tips You Can Use Today
Knowledge is power, and you will discover that a lot of our tips on how to be a better patient are related to increasing your level of knowledge… or translating your doctor’s knowledge into terms that make sense to you.

Tip #1: Know Your Terminology
While most doctors will try to translate their technical medical knowledge into layman’s terms, you can help yourself by learning the terms related to your condition–women’s urinary incontinence. For instance, did you know that there are three different types of urinary incontinence? You may have stress, urge (or overactive bladder, also called OAB) or mixed urinary incontinence. Learning at least a little about each type of urinary incontinence will give you a head start when you discuss your condition with your doctor. Get an overview HERE or dig deep and learn the full details about each type of urinary incontinence HERE.

Tip #2: Insist on Having Your Questions Answered
If you take the time to research your condition, and your most probable type of urinary incontinence, then you will probably have a list of questions by the time you see your doctor. If for any reason your doctor does not seem to want to answer your questions, be politely but quietly persistent. If your doctor continues to ignore your questions, consider finding a new doctor. Getting the answers to your questions is crucial to relieving your symptoms of urinary incontinence, so a doctor who dodges your questions or will not give you a straight answer may not be the doctor for you. One way to ensure your questions are answered is to bring a buddy with you to the appointment. Your buddy’s job is to ensure that your questions are answered, and that you do not get distracted by a ton of medical jargon. Having a good gal pal at your appointment can make all the difference!

Tip #3: Ask for Clarification as Often as Necessary
Many doctors are used to using medical terminology on a regular basis. While many healthcare providers are good at explaining those terms in a way non-medical people can understand, other doctors are less skilled at this. If your doctor uses a term you don’t understand, gently stop him or her and ask for clarification. If your doctor’s explanation still leaves you confused, ask for even more clarification. Don’t worry about whether you appear “stupid.” You are paying for your doctor’s time and attention, so make the most of it without worrying about “saving face.”

Tip #4: Fire Doctors Who Don’t Respect Your Time
Healthcare providers are feeling the “crunch” of needing to see more patients in less time. The result is often that you, the patient, wait for a long time to see the doctor only to feel rushed during the appointment. One way to be a better patient is not to tolerate a doctor who disrespects your time in this way. While a certain amount of waiting is to be expected, regularly waiting 30 minutes or more to see your doctor AND routinely feeling like you are being speed-walked through your appointment is not acceptable. Like all professionals, your doctor can and should be held to a certain level of efficiency and skilled time management. If your doctor routinely makes you feel like his or her time is more valuable than yours, it’s time to fire that doctor and find a new one.

Tip #5: Don’t Tolerate an Inefficient Office Staff
Many times the receptionists, nurses, and assistants that make up the office staff act as the conduit between you and your doctor after and between appointments. If you find your doctor’s office staff inefficient or unprofessional, you might be putting your health at risk. Suppose your doctor prescribes a new medication, and you begin having side effects, you will probably call your doctor’s office. In all likelihood, your doctor’s staff will take a message to pass on. If that message does not get passed on in a timely manner–or not at all–the side effects could really affect your health. Do not tolerate members of your doctor’s office staff that fail to pass on messages or minimize your situation. One way to be a better patient is to insist on speaking with the doctor or find a new doctor.

How to Be a Better Patient–Why It Is Important
As you can see, being a better patient is really about being persistent in seeking solutions to your women’s urinary incontinence. If you are unable to easily communicate with your doctor or the office staff, even after your best efforts to clarify communications–chances are that you will need to find a new doctor. You are more likely to find the solutions you seek with a doctor who “clicks” with you. So go forth and seek your perfect doctor!
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.

 

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: What IS Normal? 7 Questions for You…

by Overactive BladderUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

When it comes to women’s urinary incontinence, what IS normal? How do you know if you have urinary incontinence or just have to pee a lot? Is a little leakage OK?

These are common questions that women often wonder about. We have taken 7 of the most common questions regarding women’s urinary incontinence, and answered them! If you wonder… read on!

7 Questions to Ask Yourself About Women’s Urinary Incontinence
If you sometimes wonder what’s “normal” when it comes to your urinary habits, check out the answers to these 7 common questions.

How much urine can a healthy bladder hold?
If your bladder is healthy, it should be able to hold up to two cups of urine easily for two to five hours.

How often should you need to urinate?
If your urinary system is healthy, you should not experience the urge to urinate more than eight per day. In addition, you should not need to urinate shortly after you have emptied your bladder

Is urinating at night normal?
For women with a healthy urinary system, getting up at night to urinate should not be a normal occurrence. Exceptions can happen if you drink fluids too late in the day, drink excessive amounts of fluid, or have had any food or drink that irritate the bladder (including alcohol, caffeine, spicy food, or acidic food).

Is it normal for certain foods or drinks to cause you to urinate more?
Yes, certain foods and drinks are known as bladder irritants. While these classes of foods and beverages do not affect all women the same way, they can have an irritating effect on many a woman’s bladder. Which foods should you avoid? Check out the article HERE.

Is urinary leakage normal?
Urinary incontinence or leakage is not normal at any age. Acceptance of this health condition as a normal sign of aging is the second most common reason women don’t seek help from a physician. Embarrassment about talking to a doctor about urine leakage tops the list, followed by women thinking that urinary incontinence “wasn’t enough of a problem.” As a result, less than 50% of women with urinary incontinence seek medical help, and those who do get help wait almost seven years. Don’t become part of that statistic! If you leak urine, seek medical help right away!

Is defensive voiding (“urinating just in case”) normal?
If you go to the bathroom often, “just in case” you might need to later, then you are practicing what is called defensive voiding. Women practice defensive voiding so that they can sit through a movie or make it all way through dinner without jumping up to use the ladies room. Defensive voiding is a sign of overactive bladder (OAB) or urge urinary incontinence. It is not normal. If you practice defensive voiding, seek help from your doctor.

Is sudden urinary urgency normal?
If the sound of running water, sudden immersion in cold water, a change in body position, or smoking causes you to experience urinary urgency, you need to call your doctor. Chances are that you have overactive bladder or urge urinary incontinence. If your urinary system is healthy and normal–and you pay attention to your body’s needs–you should never have to run for the bathroom!

Get it? Got it? Good! If you still have questions, check out the rest of our blog or ask your question on Facebook … we will answer!

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.

Ladies: Read This if You Wonder What’s Up Down There

by Mixed Urinary IncontinenceOveractive BladderPelvic Floor WeaknessPelvic Organ ProlapsePOPStress Urinary IncontinenceUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary Incontinence

Sometimes there is nothing like another person’s story to really motivate and empower us to take action for our own health. If you are concerned that you may have women’s urinary incontinence–meaning you have symptoms like urinary urgency, frequency, or leakage–the stories in this article may interest you. These stories may also interest you if you feel like something is falling out “down there”… or if your bedroom encounters have gone from “hot to not”!

If you wonder, “What IS up down there?” then read on… these stories may resonate with you plus motivate you to get the help you need!

Are You Like Jane?
Jane, in her mid-thirties, loves how kickboxing is helping restore her figure after she gave birth to her adorable son. What she doesn’t love is the amount of urine she leaks every time she kicks or boxes. In fact, the leakage happens so often that she is thinking of stopping her exercise program altogether.  Here’s what Jane doesn’t know.  She has stress urinary incontinence (also called stress incontinence), the most common form of urinary incontinence, which affects 26 percent of women over age 18 at some point in their lives. Childbirth is a major cause of stress incontinence. Most women with urine leakage wait more than six years to get help. Yet research shows that urinary incontinence in 8 out of 10 women with the condition can be improved. How long will Jane wait?

Jane solved her problem. Find out how by clicking HERE.

Are You Living Karen’s Story?
Sixty-two-year-old Karen has bathrooms on the brain. She has to urinate 10 to 12 times a day and a few times at night. Sometimes she feels a sudden urge and doesn’t make it to the bathroom in time–she then leaks a large volume of urine. Karen has to carry several changes of clothing with her and buys adult diapers in bulk. Her situation is bad, but her embarrassment about seeking help is worse, so she just keeps coping with the condition by herself.

This is what Karen should know. Karen is suffering from the most severe form of overactive bladder, called urge urinary incontinence. About 17 percent of women in the United States have urge incontinence, especially women 50 and older, but less than half seek help. Getting help is important, because about 60 percent of women with urge urinary incontinence also experience depression (though the two conditions are not always related). Help is also important because 70 percent of women with urge incontinence report symptom improvement with conservative treatments like medication or physical therapy.

Discover how Karen stopped leaking urine by reading her story HERE.

Does Jo’s Story Ring a Bell?
Jo, age 40 and very fit, faces a complex situation: she has the same symptoms as Jane and Karen, meaning she leaks urine when she exercises or laughs as well as because of sudden urges. She’s had symptoms for only 11 months but is definitely going to ask her doctor for help, even though she feels embarrassed. Her symptoms are frequent and serious.  What Jo will learn when she talks to her doctor: Jo’s doctor will tell her that she has mixed urinary incontinence, which is a combination of stress incontinence and urge incontinence or overactive bladder. Women with this mixed form of incontinence are more likely to seek help earlier because their symptoms tend to be worse and more frequent than symptoms of women who experience only stress or urge incontinence / overactive bladder. Mixed incontinence has a much stronger negative effect on quality of life, and women with this condition spend much more on laundry bills and adult diapers.

Jo was able to solve both types of urinary incontinence by using the steps outlined HERE.

Do You Share Susan’s Pain?
At age 68, Susan is suddenly experiencing low-back pain, chronic constipation, and the feeling that she is sitting on a ball. Luckily, she already has an appointment with her ob-gyn in a few weeks. She hopes her doctor will tell her what’s happening in her pelvic region.  What Susan’s ob-gyn will tell her at her appointment: Susan feels like she’s sitting on a ball because her pelvic organs have literally popped out of place. She has pelvic organ prolapse, in which one or more of her pelvic organs have moved out of place and now bulge into her vagina.  Susan’s ob-gyn will tell her that she is among the 3 to 6 percent of women who have severe pelvic organ prolapse, and will most likely need surgery to correct the problem. Surprisingly, between 43 and 76 percent of women have some degree of prolapse without knowing it and should be taking preventive action.

Susan was able to solve her pelvic organ prolapse issues with help from her doctor. Find out what Susan did HERE.

Do You Have “Not So Hot” Bedroom Encounters Like Cherie?
At age 42 Cherie is supposed to be in her sexual prime, at least according to the latest women’s magazines, but she feels far from sexy. With two children and a busy career, she considers sex to be at the bottom of her list. Further, sex with her husband just isn’t very pleasurable anymore because Cherie doesn’t feel much sensation in her sexual organs. She avoids sex as much as possible, but her husband is becoming upset and worried. She knows she needs to do something to resolve the situation, but she doesn’t know what.

How Cherie can solve her sexual problem: More than 40 percent of women are dissatisfied with their sex lives, and many of these women have decreased sexual sensation, which is what Cherie is experiencing. This decrease in sensation is often due to weak pelvic floor muscles, and the good news is that these muscles can easily be strengthened with pelvic floor muscle exercises. Studies show that women who do pelvic floor exercises reach orgasm more easily and experience more sexual desire. Cherie can improve her symptoms by following a simple pelvic floor exercise program, such as one from her physical therapist or the at-home program in chapter 7 in our book.

Cherie changed her bedroom encounters from “not, back to hot”… find out how by reading her story HERE.

Read, Plan, Do
Once you have read through these women’s’ stories, you should have a pretty good idea of what is going on with your pelvic health. Then make a plan. Will you call your family doctor for a referral to a urologist or will you visit your ob/gyn? Will you stop in and visit with your family doctor first?

Whatever you plan that takes you closer to solving your pelvic health issues is good. Then you must DO. A plan without action is not a very useful plan. So once you have your plan, do it! Take action for your own pelvic health. You will be surprised how much your quality of life will be affected by improving your pelvic health!

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.

Is Your Urinary Urgency and Frequency Really a Health Problem?

by Overactive BladderUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

If you have had urinary urgency or frequency all your life, does that mean that this is normal?

Good question. As you may have guessed, “normal” is difficult to define since different women have different bodies… and different schedules. So when it comes to urinary urgency or frequency, what may be ordinary for one woman may be extraordinary or troublesome to another woman.

Even so, there may be a difference between what is healthy for you, and what you consider “ordinary” when it comes to your urinary habits.

Healthy versus Ordinary
How often does a woman with good pelvic health need to urinate? Should a healthy woman ever experience urinary urgency?

While there are no hard and fast rules for what is healthy, we do have some “rules of thumb” that are good guidelines to follow. For urinary urgency and frequency, here are some guidelines to consider:

– While most of us have experienced not reaching the bathroom in time (such as when waiting in a long line at the ladies room after a few beers), regularly having to “run” for the bathroom is a sign of poor pelvic health.

– If you experience the urge to urinate eight or more times a day, or you need to urinate shortly after you have emptied your bladder, you should probably talk to your doctor.

– If you use any of the following strategies, your pelvic health may be at risk: immediately looking for bathrooms in any new locations, practicing defensive voiding (such as urinating before a movie “just in case”), limiting travel for fear of urinary urgency or leakage, fluid restriction, or waking up nightly to urinate.

If any of the above guidelines resonate with behaviors you practice in your life, chances are that you have some form of women’s urinary incontinence. The most likely culprits are overactive bladder (also called urge urinary incontinence when leakage occurs) or mixed urinary incontinence.

Normal Does Not Always Mean Healthy
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, what you may have experienced as “normal” urinary habits all of your life may not actually be healthy. For instance, if you have always needed to urinate 12 or so times a day then this is normal for you, but not necessarily healthy. This kind of urinary frequency may indicate that you have experienced poor pelvic health all your life. The same is true of urinary urgency–experiencing urgency on occasion is nothing to worry about, but having urinary urgency four or more times per month is not healthy.

If the guidelines mentioned above indicate that your urinary habits are not healthy–however normal they may be for you–we suggest you schedule an appointment with your healthcare practitioner to get a true medical diagnosis. If you do, in fact, have poor pelvic health resulting in urinary urgency or frequency, the earlier you diagnose and treat your condition the higher your likelihood of success. So don’t delay calling your doctor, just do it!

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.

 

Overactive Bladder: Risk Factors versus Triggers

by Overactive BladderUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary Incontinence

If you are a woman suffering from urinary urgency, frequency, or leakage, then chances are that you have considered the fact that you may have overactive bladder, or OAB. You may have done some research to educate yourself about your condition, and learn about possible solutions. You may have even seen your doctor to get an accurate medical diagnosis.

And, if you are like many women, you may still be confused. Specifically, you may be confused about the difference between risk factors and triggers for OAB. If so, don’t worry. Many women with urinary incontinence are unclear about these two terms, so you are not alone. The good news is that this kind of confusion is simple to clear up!

Risk Factors for Overactive Bladder
In a previous article  we discussed the risk factors for OAB. When we use the term “risk factors,” we are describing the constant or chronic factors in your life that may be causing your urinary urgency, frequency, or leakage.

Being overweight is an example of a lifestyle factor that puts you a risk for OAB. Another example of a risk factor is having a low level of estrogen, which is a chronic condition that can cause bladder irritability, leading to OAB symptoms.

In other words, risk factors are the constant conditions in your life that cause or put you at risk for OAB symptoms. When you adjust your lifestyle in a permanent way–by losing weight or stopping smoking, for instance–you reduce your risk of experiencing symptoms like urinary urgency and frequency. By removing the causes of OAB from your lifestyle, you reduce your chances of getting or having this condition.

Triggers for Overactive Bladder
Unlike risk factors, triggers do not refer to constant lifestyle conditions. Instead, triggers are momentary events that may immediately bring on symptoms such as urinary urgency or leakage.

For instance, some women with OAB may feel the urge to urinate when they hear the sound of running water. Other women have symptoms triggered by drinking caffeinated beverages or eating spicy foods. Additional triggers include immersion in cold water, sudden changes in position, or drinking small amounts of liquid.

One lifestyle risk factor that is also a trigger for OAB is smoking. As a lifestyle habit, smoking increases your risk of having OAB because nicotine causes your bladder to be constantly irritated. At the same time, whenever you smoke a cigarette, you can trigger your OAB symptoms in that moment. This makes smoking both a risk factor and a trigger for OAB. Hence, some women become confused about the difference between risk factors and triggers.

For the most part, however, triggers can bring on OAB symptoms in the moment, while risk factors are constants in your life that increase your chances of having OAB as a permanent condition (permanent, that is, until you change your lifestyle and reduce your risk).

Hopefully this short article helps clear up any confusion about the difference between risk factors and triggers for women’s urinary incontinence, of which OAB is just one of three types!

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.

Overactive Bladder (OAB) Risk Factors You Should Know About

by Overactive BladderUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

Do you suffer from urinary urgency the moment you sit down in a movie theater? Or maybe you have the nervous habit of looking for bathrooms everywhere you go. Or how about that track you have worn into your carpet between your bed and the bathroom–the result of getting up to urinate many times a night?

If the above description sounds like you, you likely have a form of women’s urinary incontinence called overactive bladder (OAB) or urge urinary incontinence. If you only experience urinary urgency without leakage, then your condition is most likely OAB or OAB-dry. If you do leak urine, then you probably have the more severe form of OAB, called urge urinary incontinence or OAB-wet.

Now that you know a little more about what is going on with your bladder, wouldn’t it be nice to learn more about the risk factors that cause urinary urgency and leakage? Let’s talk about them…

Risk Factors for OAB and Urge Incontinence
Before we describe the specific risk factors for OAB or urge incontinence, we first want to stress that regardless of these factors, urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage are not normal at any age. Urinary incontinence does tend to occur more frequently as we age, but it is not a normal sign of aging that should simply be ignored. Urinary incontinence can have a severely negative impact on a woman’s quality of life, and thus should be addressed as soon as symptoms appear. Symptoms can be effectively treated, especially if handled early in the process.

Now that we’ve give you our “soapbox” speech, we can get on with describing the risk factors for OAB or urge incontinence. Knowing the risk factors can help you evaluate your lifestyle, current physical condition, and other health conditions to determine whether any of these are causing or worsening your symptoms.

Risk factors that you may already know about include:
– aging
– excessive weight
– smoking
– being a woman (not fair, right?)
– urinary tract infections (especially chronic ones)
– certain medications (such as ones that act as diuretics)

Then there are these risk factors, some of which may surprise you:
– anxiety and similar nervous states
– low levels of estrogen (can cause bladder irritability)
– damage to any nerves associated with the bladder or urinary system (due to stroke, accident, or conditions such as Parkinson’s)
– health conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes

Note that the above risk factors describe more permanent lifestyle conditions that can contribute to urinary urgency and leakage due to OAB or urge incontinence. There are also temporary conditions, called “triggers,” that can aggravate symptoms. We will discuss those in an upcoming article.

In the meantime, we urge you to review the above risk factors to determine whether any of them apply to you. If any do apply, are you willing to change your lifestyle in a significant way to alleviate your bladder symptoms? While there is no way to stop the passage of time (aging) or easily change your gender, you can take action steps to lose weight, quit smoking, talk to your doctor about your medications and health conditions, or reduce the level of stress in your life.

We invite you to browse through the resources on our website to learn more about conservative lifestyle changes that can definitely improve your symptoms. Or, for the full list of possible solutions for women’s urinary incontinence, consider reading a copy of A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Health. This book offers full descriptions of all three types of women’s urinary incontinence, plus three entire chapters chock-full of resources and solutions designed especially for you!

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.

 

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: What You Gain When You Seek Medical Help

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary IncontinenceOveractive BladderPelvic Organ ProlapsePessaryPOPStress Urinary IncontinenceUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary Incontinence

In our last article, we discussed all the quality of life aspects that go out the window when women with urinary incontinence fail to seek medical help for their condition. In this follow-up article, we take a look at all the benefits you gain when you seek medical help for women’s urinary incontinence. Yes, we know, seeking medical help involves having that “red-faced” embarrassing conversation with your doctor about urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage. But after you read through all the benefits you will gain once you get through that conversation, our bet is that you will be willing to ask your doctor for help (if you haven’t already)!

Benefit #1: A Medical Diagnosis
A lot of women with urinary incontinence know that they have a problem, but they don’t know exactly what the problem is. They know they suffer from urinary urgency or frequency or leakage, but may not necessarily know the causes of these symptoms. This lack of knowing “what’s up down there” can create a sense of tension and stress for many women. Therefore, one of the biggest benefits of getting help from your doctor is that you get a true and medically-correct diagnosis about your condition. You will find out if you have stress, urge, or mixed urinary incontinence … or just a mild form of urge incontinence called overactive bladder (OAB). You will discover whether your pelvic organs have “fallen” out of place, causing some of your symptoms. Whatever the cause of your urinary incontinence symptoms, you will emerge from your conversation with your doctor with the knowledge of what is happening with your body. Since “knowledge is power,” you will emerge from your appointment with a new sense of self-empowerment. That is a pretty neat benefit.

Benefit #2: Knowledge of Treatment Options
Once your healthcare provider discovers the cause of your symptoms, such as urinary urgency or leakage, the next step is obviously to discuss treatment options. Depending on the type and severity of your symptoms, your doctor may recommend either conservative or surgical treatment options. Conservative options may include lifestyle changes, such as smoking cessation, weight loss, and dietary changes. Other conservative therapies include bladder retraining, pelvic floor muscle rehabilitation, acupuncture, pessaries, and percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation.

If your condition is more severe, especially if one or more of your pelvic organs has fallen out of place (a condition called pelvic organ prolapse, or POP), then your doctor may recommend some surgical options to treat your condition. The good news is that most of the surgical procedures for women’s urinary incontinence are minimally-invasive, plus have a high rate of success.  Most healthcare providers will recommend that you start with the most conservative therapy possible, and consider surgery only if your condition is not treatable with conservative approaches.

Benefit #3: Support on the Journey Back to Health
While talking to your doctor about your urinary symptoms may be embarrassing, you will find that most medical professionals are quite knowledgeable and compassionate about women’s urinary incontinence. By seeking help from your doctor, you will not only get the help you need to restore yourself to continence, but you will gain the knowledge that you are not alone. As the baby boomer generation ages, more and more doctors are helping women with urinary incontinence issues. Your doctor will not only provide you with solutions that will treat your condition, but can also reassure you that you are not alone. Your doctor may even be able to recommend resources, both online and offline, where you can find additional support from women dealing with the same kinds of symptoms.

Big Benefits from Seeking Help
As you can probably tell, seeking help from your doctor will yield some pretty major benefits for you. Not only will you be able to address your physical symptoms, but you will also be able to ease your mind as you gain knowledge about urinary incontinence. The more you know, the more control you will have over your condition. The more control you have, the less stress you will experience. All of these are major contributors to a good quality of life. Doesn’t that make a short conversation with your doctor worthwhile?

 

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.

 

Got Urinary Urgency, Leakage, or Frequency? Stick a Needle Above Your Ankle Bone!

by General Urinary IncontinenceOveractive BladderUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary Incontinence

This blog is part 11 of an 11 article series of New Year’s resolutions that actually work and WILL improve your pelvic health. Get the full list of all 11 New Year’s resolutions HERE.

As strange as it may seem, your bladder and urinary system are linked to a nerve located just above your ankle bone–the nerve called the percutaneous tibial nerve. While this little piece of trivia may not interest the average woman, a woman suffering from urinary urgency and other symptoms of urinary incontinence may be interested in this bit of news. Why? Because there is a conservative therapy called percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation that has proven useful in helping women with overactive bladder and urge urinary incontinence.

What is Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation?
As the name suggests, percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation is a conservative therapy in which your medical provider inserts a fine needle in your percutanous tibial nerve, located just above your ankle (while your leg is elevated). Usually performed by your urologist, this conservative therapy then delivers a mild electrical current through the needle to the nerve, which contols bladder function along with other nerves. Other medical professionals who can perform this therapy include trained nurses and physician assistants.

Don’t worry if your toes or entire foot flexes gently during the treatment. Some women also report feeling a mild tingling sensation in the ankle or sole of the foot, which is perfectly normal. Treatments last for 30 to 60 minutes each, and women need to have treatments three to four times per week for 8 to 12 weeks for full effectiveness.

Does Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation Work?
Yes. Studies show that women with symptoms of overactive bladder or urge incontinence–such as, urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage–report a 20 percent reduction in frequency of urination (OrBIT trial). Women in another study, the SUMit trial, reported a 36 percent reduction in symptom severity and a 34 percent increase in quality of life.

That’s pretty good, right? The great news is that percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation is a conservative therapy, which means you get the dual benefits of symptom improvement along with a non-invasive procedure! Not sure? Ask your urologist to fill you in on the details.
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Embarrassed by Urine Leakage? How Quitting Smoking Can Reduce Bladder Spasms

by Mixed Urinary IncontinenceStress Urinary IncontinenceUrge Urinary Incontinence

This blog is part 4 of an 11 article series of 11 New Year’s resolutions that actually work and WILL improve your pelvic health. Get the full list of all 11 New Year’s resolutions HERE.

Did you know that smoking is one of the worst culprits when it comes to women’s urinary incontinence, especially those uncontrollable bladder spasms that cause embarrassing urine leakage!

If you smoke, you probably already know that it is one of the least-healthy activities you can do. For instance, women who smoke have four times the risk of developing bladder cancer. Not good. If you are a woman who smokes and suffers from bladder spasms and/or urine leakage, then you are definitely doing yourself a disservice.

The Link Between Smoking and Urine Leakage
Smoking is a risk factor for all three types of women’s urinary incontinence:

  • stress
  • urge (or overactive bladder)
  • mixed

With stress urinary incontinence, the pelvic floor muscles are too weak to hold urine in the bladder when abdominal pressure increases, such as when you cough or sneeze. If you smoke for a long period of time, chances are high that you will develop a chronic smoker’s cough. Each time you cough, you put immense downward pressure on your pelvic floor muscles. As time passes, this constant downward pressure will result in weakened pelvic floor muscles, and eventually urine leakage. Studies show that women who smoke are twice as likely to develop symptoms of stress urinary incontinence.

If you have urge urinary incontinence (also called overactive bladder), you experience frequent and sudden urges to urinate, whether or not you leak urine. These sudden urges are caused by bladder spasms which force urine out of your body when you least expect it. Smoking only worsens these bladder spasms since nicotine is a bladder irritant. More bladder spasms equal a greater frequency and urge to urinate.

With mixed urinary incontinence, you experience the symptoms of both stress and urge urinary incontinence. That means if you smoke, your symptoms will be doubly difficult to handle. In addition to bladder spasms from the nicotine, you can experience leakage every time you cough, sneeze, or exercise. More importantly, women who smoke are 28 percent more likely to develop some form of urinary incontinence!

The moral of this story should be crystal clear: if you want to avoid urine leakage, bladder spasms, and all other symptoms of urinary incontinence, stop smoking! If you feel you cannot stop smoking on your own, ask your doctor for help. Many smoking cessation methods are now available, and can provide the support you need to stop smoking today, and relieve your symptoms of urinary incontinence.

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Did You Know Your Ankle Bone is Connected to Your Bladder?

by Overactive BladderUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary Incontinence

For those of you familiar with the song “Dry Bones” by the Delta Rhythm Boys, this may sound pretty funny! After all, the song never mentions the bladder. In fact, the song is all about bones and has lyrics more like this:

“Well, your toe bone connected to your foot bone
Your foot bone connected to your heel bone
Your heel bone connected to your ankle bone
Your ankle bone connected to your leg bone
Your leg bone connected to your knee bone
Your knee bone connected to your thigh bone
Your thigh bone connected to your hip bone
Your hip bone connected to your back bone”

You’ll notice that this song is all about bones … not a single mention of the bladder at all. But for women with urinary incontinence, you could say that the ankle bone is connected (sort of) to the bladder. Really!

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: The Ankle Bone and the Bladder
By now you are probably wondering what we’re talking about when we connect the ankle bone to the bladder. It turns out that there is a nerve in your body, called the percutaneous tibial nerve, that is located just above your ankle bone. This nerve is part of the nervous system that controls the action of your bladder. By using a therapy called percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation, which sends a gentle electrical current into the nerve, doctors have been able to alleviate symptoms for women with overactive bladder or urge urinary incontinence.

More About Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation
This conservative therapy is a wonderful option for women with overactive bladder or urge incontinence, especially those women who have not had much luck with behavior modification or drug therapy. Usually performed by a urologist, this therapy can also be delivered by nurses or physician assistants who have received the appropriate training.

For the procedure, your doctor will have you elevate your leg while in a sitting position. A very fine needle is then inserted just above the ankle bone into the percutaneous tibial nerve. A mild electric current is delivered via this needle for 30 to 60 minutes per session. Don’t be surprised if your toes or foot flex gently during the treatment as this is perfectly normal. You may also feel a mild tingling sensation in your foot or around your ankle. Most doctors recommend four treatments per week, with the total therapy lasting between eight and twelve weeks.

Two studies (the OrBIT trial and the SUMiT trial) have shown that tibial nerve stimulation is effective in decreasing the frequency of urination by 20% in women who need to urinate at least eight times every 24 hours. In addition, women report a 36% reduction of the severity of their symptoms, as well as a 34% improvement in the quality of life. Other improvements as a result of this therapy include reductions in urinary leakage accidents, frequency, and urge. Those are pretty solid success rates, so if you have overactive bladder or urge incontinence, you may want to ask your doctor about this form of therapy.

So you see? The ankle bone is indeed connected to the bladder!

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Women’s Urinary Incontinence: The Power of Knowing Yourself

by General Urinary IncontinenceOveractive Bladder

When you experienced your first symptom of women’s urinary incontinence, how did you react? Did you try your best to ignore the whole event? If you pulled the “ostrich act” then you are in the majority. More than 50% of women who have urinary incontinence don’t seek help and do their best to act like “nothing is wrong.”

Whether or not something is actually “wrong” is perhaps debatable, but what isn’t up for debate is that fact that you will have to cope with your symptoms of urinary incontinence. Coping with your symptoms may mean wearing absorbent pads, carrying around a change of clothes, or making note of the location of every bathroom in town! These are helpful ways to deal with your symptoms, but you can do one thing that will help even more:

~~ Know thyself! ~~

The Power of Knowing Yourself
All women who have urinary incontinence suffer from one of three forms: stress, overactive bladder/urge, or mixed. Getting an accurate diagnosis is the best way to figure out which type of urinary incontinence is affecting you. However, if you are not quite ready to get help from your doctor, you can still take an empowering step towards coping with your symptoms by learning more about your own condition.

When you know the specifics of your condition, you can better anticipate when urinary incontinence symptoms will occur, which will help you cope with those symptoms. For instance, here are some aspects about your condition that you may want to know:

  • What triggers your urinary incontinence?
  • Do you suffer from frequency, urinary leakage, or both?
  • How often do you feel the urge to urinate?
  • Do you feel the urge to urinate at night? How many times per night?
  • When you leak urine, how much do you leak?
  • Will absorbent pads prevent leakage accidents from showing, or do you need to carry a change of clothes with you?
  • When you feel the urge to urinate, how much time before urine starts to flow?
  • Do certain foods or drinks worsen your symptoms?
  • Does doing a correct pelvic floor muscle contraction (Kegel) delay urge or urinary leakage?

These are just a few of the aspects of your condition that can help you anticipate and even prevent symptoms. To best understand your condition, keep a journal of your symptoms for a week or two. Just toss a notepad and pen into your purse, and jot down symptoms as they occur. You might be surprised at what you discover. For instance, one woman was surprised to discover that she felt the urge to urinate more than 15 times per day. Without the journal, she would have estimated a much lower number. In addition, the same woman was surprised to discover the variety of different triggers for her symptoms–everything from her morning cup of coffee to the sound of running water and cold weather!

While keeping this kind of journal for a few weeks make be a bit inconvenient, you will most likely find that the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience. Even better, if and when you decide to seek help from a medical professional, this journal will give your doctor a very clear idea of your symptoms. With this information, your doctor will be able to diagnose your condition more accurately and quickly. That’s definitely a win-win situation!

 

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Mixed Women’s Urinary Incontinence: The Best and Worst of Both Worlds

by Mixed Urinary IncontinenceOveractive BladderUrinary Incontinence

If you have women’s urinary incontinence, specifically mixed urinary incontinence, then you probably know exactly what the phrase “The Best and Worst of Both Worlds” means. Women with mixed urinary incontinence suffer from symptoms of both stress and urge incontinence. Women with stress urinary incontinence leak urine every time they put stress on the bladder or abdominal cavity, such as when sneezing, laughing, coughing, or exercising. With urge urinary incontinence (or the milder form, overactive bladder), women experience strong and sudden urges to urinate, often resulting in a urinary accident with copious amounts of leakage. Women with urge incontinence or overactive bladder also have to urinate frequently, and often at night.

The Worst of Both Worlds
Women with mixed urinary incontinence suffer the symptoms of both stress and urge incontinence–at the same time! When it comes to women’s urinary incontinence, having the symptoms of mixed incontinence is like living in the “worst of both worlds.” These women feel like they have to be prepared for urinary leakage at ANY time! Women with mixed incontinence have symptoms that are both more severe AND more frequent than women who have only stress or urge incontinence. In fact, studies show that women with mixed incontinence rate their quality of life as being more strongly affected than women with the other types of urinary incontinence. Unfortunately, about one-third of women with urinary incontinence suffer from this form. That’s the bad news. That truly is the worst of both worlds!

The Best of Both Worlds
Now here’s the good news: women with mixed urinary incontinence are more likely to seek medical help for their condition sooner than their counterparts with only stress or urge incontinence. Studies demonstrate that the severity of a woman’s urinary incontinence symptoms is a good predictor of her likelihood for seeking help. Another bit of good news is this: because women with mixed incontinence are more likely to seek medical help, physicians have more experience helping women with this condition. What this means for you is that, should you seek medical help for your mixed incontinence, your doctor is likely have plenty of experience with your condition and know the available treatments.

How Your Doctor Will Treat Your Mixed Urinary Incontinence
With mixed urinary incontinence, your physicians first task to is determine which form of incontinence (stress or urge) is dominant in your case. Your doctor will then recommend options to treat the more dominant condition first. Once that condition has been addressed, your doctor will then suggest therapies for the secondary condition. For instance, suppose your form of mixed urinary incontinence is dominated by stress incontinence. This means you are more likely to leak urine when you put stress on your bladder and abdomen, such as when you cough, sneeze, laugh, exercise, or step off a curb. You also have urge incontinence, but you leak urine less often due to this condition. In your case, your doctor will recommend treatment options for stress incontinence first, which might include pelvic floor retraining, lifestyle and behavior modification, or even surgery. Once you find a combination of treatments that alleviate your stress urinary incontinence symptoms to your satisfaction, your physician will then address your urge incontinence symptoms. For instance, she may recommend that you take medication to relieve your urge incontinence symptoms.

Make sense? Good. So … if you are suffering from mixed urinary incontinence, now is the time to pick up the phone and call your doctor. Your quality of life is most probably being severely impacted by this condition, and there is no need to suffer any longer. We strongly encourage you to seek medical guidance now so that you can look forward to a time in your near future when you will be high and dry!

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Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Overcoming Your Fear of Surgery

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary IncontinencePessary

When it comes to women’s urinary incontinence, embarrassment tops the list of reasons that affected women don’t seek help. Another major reason these women don’t seek help is this: fear of surgery. Affected women are afraid that seeking a medical diagnosis from a physician will automatically lead to surgery. Many people, not just women with urinary incontinence, have a fear of surgery. Luckily, these fears are mostly unjustified.

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Try Conservative Methods First
Do you suffer from women’s urinary incontinence, and are you afraid that your doctor might suggest that you have surgery? If so, then we have good news for you. Unless your condition is very severe, most physicians will suggest that you try the least invasive and most conservative therapies first. These include pelvic floor retraining, lifestyle changes (such as weight loss, diet changes, and smoking cessation), bladder retraining, taking medication, using a pessary, and acupuncture. They may even suggest you try a combination of these therapies until you find what works to relieve your symptoms.

An interesting note about these conservative therapies is that they are more effective when used early on–that is, as soon as you notice the first signs of pelvic floor weakness. These therapies are effective for relieving symptoms of all three types of women’s urinary incontinence, as well as alleviating symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse and decreased sexual sensation. This information should definitely motivate you to seek medical help as soon as you begin experiencing problems with your pelvic health.

Overcoming Your Fear of Surgery
But what happens if conservative therapies are not effective for relieving your symptoms? In that case, you may need surgery to address the problem. If your condition is severe, such as when one or more of your pelvic organs have significantly shifted out of position (prolapsed), your physician may recommend surgery as the first step towards curing your condition. Or you may find that conservative therapies are effective for many years, but cease to work over time. This can occur because of aging, menopause, and the continued downward pull of gravity on your pelvic organs. In this case, you may also need surgery to alleviate symptoms that were formerly relieved by conservative therapies.

If your physician does recommend surgery, don’t hit the panic button just yet. We have some statistics about women’s pelvic surgeries that should help you breathe a sigh of relief, especially if you have a fear of surgery. We have categorized the different types of surgeries according to the condition treated, and we describe the level of invasiveness for each procedure as well as the success rate. Minimally-invasive surgeries are usually done as outpatient procedures, and you often go home the same day. Surgical procedures with a moderate level of invasiveness may require a short stay in the hospital.

Surgeries for Stress Urinary Incontinence
Number of Procedures: 6
Names: Transobturator tape, single-incision transobturator tape, tension-free vaginal tape, pubovaginal sling, Burch procedure, Marshall-Marchetti-Krantz procedure
Invasiveness: The first three procedures are minimally invasive, the last three are considered moderate.
Success Rates: No procedure has less than a 66% success rates, and most have success rates between 70% and 95%.

Surgeries for Overactive Bladder, Urge Urinary Incontinence, Urge-Dominant Mixed Incontinence, and Urinary Retention
Number of Procedures: 1
Name: Sacral neuro-modulation
Invasiveness: Minimal
Success Rates: 31% to 65%

Surgeries for Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Number of Procedures: 4
Names: Cystocele repair (bladder hernia), rectocele repair (large intestine hernia), enterocele repair (small intestine hernia), sacral colpopexy (vaginal vault prolapse)
Invasiveness: All are considered moderate
Success Rates: 80% to 96%

As you can see, almost all the surgeries have a very high success rate, and the majority are minimally-invasive. This list of women’s pelvic surgeries should give you a starting point for discussing your surgical options with your physician. If you have a significant fear of surgery or simply want to avoid surgery for any reason, you may wish to seek a second opinion from another specialist. Additionally, you may want to ask your physician whether a different type or a different combination of conservative therapies would be useful to try before having surgery. For many women, the first few conservative therapies tried are not completely successful at relieving symptoms. The women who have the most success with conservative therapies are those willing to try multiple approaches or multiple combinations of therapies until they find something that works. Persistence is often the key to success when working with conservative therapies.

If you ultimately decide to undergo surgery for your pelvic health condition, rest assured that success rates are high and most procedures pose a fairly low risk. Be sure to discuss any questions or concerns with your physician until you feel completely comfortable with any proposed surgery. In this case, educating yourself about your condition and your options is the best medicine!

 

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