Have you ever laughed or coughed and felt uncomfortable because a little bit of urine leaked out? Well, you are not alone. Stress urinary incontinence is the most common type of incontinence in women under the age of 60. For some women, it can really have an impact on their life- disrupting work and exercising, social activities, and even affect their sex life.
Stress incontinence happens when physical movement or activity- such as coughing, sneezing or running puts pressure on your bladder. Stress incontinence occurs when the muscles and other tissue that support the bladder (pelvic floor muscles) weaken. This weakening allows for unintentional loss of urine.
Are you wondering what causes your pelvic floor muscles to weaken? Here are some factors:
- Pregnancy- supporting the weight of the uterus
- Vaginal childbirth- the muscles may become stretched
- Lower amounts of estrogen after menopause
- Body weight
If you are suffering from a leaky bladder, there are solutions to help. There are exercises that can be done to strengthen the muscles that support the bladder. These are called Kegels. It is important to do Kegels correctly in order to see improvement. The great thing is that there are devices to help guide you in doing a proper Kegel exercise.
Non-surgical vaginal rejuvenation procedures such as Thermiva® also help to improve stress incontinence. Thermiva® uses controlled radio-frequency to tone and tighten tissue. The radio-frequency waves cause tightening by increasing blood flow, stimulating new collagen formation and allows for more synchronous muscle contractions of the vaginal wall and pelvic muscles. This, in turn, allows for improved control of urine and stress incontinence. If you have mild or moderate incontinence, ThermiVa®, often with PRP regenerative treatments can help the symptoms and improve your quality of life. Severe incontinence may require a visit to a urologist for more testing and possibly more invasive interventions.
We welcome you to schedule a consultation with Dr. Ong so that she may be able to address your concerns and find the right treatment plan that will work for your lifestyle. Please call us at our Scottsdale office today. 480-771-7771.
