Urinary Incontinence: Take Back Control

By Dr. Jaggi Khairah

Do you ever plan your activities around whether or not you can keep your bladder “under control?” Has leaking urine stopped you from doing some of the things you love to do? Is wearing a daily panty-liner cumbersome?

I ask these questions of my patients routinely. I think something as simple as voiding can really impact your life when it is not going the way it should. Research shows that about 12 to14 million women suffer from poor bladder control.

There are several causes that lead to leaking of urine. Some can be treated with certain exercises, some with medication and some with simple outpatient surgical procedures. This condition also does not discriminate when it comes to age.

My job as a Kelsey-Seybold Clinic physician is to figure out what is causing the leaking of urine and provide solutions for my patients. When I saw the enormous impact it had on my patients’ lives, I quickly became motivated to learn more and reach out to people suffering with this problem so I could bring solutions to solve urinary incontinence quickly.

The four major types of incontinence are stress, urge, mixed and overflow. With a detailed history, thorough examination and some other special tests (urodynamics) we can determine what issue needs to be addressed.

Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) is when you have a sudden unintentional release of urine with normal everyday activities such as coughing, sneezing, lifting or standing up.

SUI occurs when the supporting structures of the bladder and urethra may have become weakened and therefore do not hold the urethra in the correct position during these stressors with activity. This weakening of the pelvic floor may result from pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, obesity or smoking.

I encourage all patients to speak with their doctor if they are experiencing these types of symptoms. And remember, the majority of urinary incontinence issues can be treated with very favorable outcomes. So take back control and do those activities you enjoyed doing – talk to a qualified physician today.