Diagnosing and Treating Bladder Incontinence
Bladder incontinence, or accidental loss of urine, is a common problem for women throughout adulthood. Urine leakage can affect your work, hobbies, and social life. Yet, many women suffer in silence. If you have a problem with bladder incontinence, the doctors at Rose Gynecology can help. Bladder testing can determine the cause of your symptoms and allow us recommend the best treatment.
What is bladder incontinence?
Bladder incontinence occurs when you accidentally leak urine. Some women only leak small amounts of urine. Others suffer from frequent or severe bladder incontinence. It can happen to anyone, but it becomes more common with age. Most bladder incontinence problems occur when the muscles surrounding the bladder are too weak or too active.
The four types of bladder incontinence are stress incontinence, urge incontinence, mixed incontinence, and overflow incontinence. Stress incontinence occurs when the tissues that support the bladder and urethra become weak. Urge incontinence happens when overactive bladder muscles contract too often. Mixed incontinence is a combination of stress and urge incontinence. Overflow incontinence occurs in women with underactive bladder muscles.
What are the symptoms of bladder incontinence?
If you have stress incontinence, you may leak urine when you cough, laugh, sneeze, exercise, or perform any activity that puts pressure on the bladder. If you have urge incontinence, you may feel a persistent urge to use the restroom, even when you have very little urine in your bladder. Women with overflow incontinence often leak tiny amounts of urine throughout the day.
Other symptoms of bladder incontinence may include frequent trips to the bathroom, painful urination, and leakage while sleeping. Many women with bladder incontinence experience urine leakage that causes embarrassment or prevents certain activities.
How is bladder incontinence diagnosed?
In-office urodynamic testing, or bladder testing, can evaluate the cause of your bladder incontinence symptoms. Bladder testing assesses how well your bladder and urethra store and release urine. During the test, a member of our staff will fill your bladder using a catheter. Next, we will conduct a variety of tests that range from simple observation to precise measurement
How is bladder incontinence managed and treated?
There are many bladder incontinence treatment options. Treatment may include lifestyle changes, bladder training, physical therapy, devices, medications, and surgery. The treatment selected will depend on the results of the exam and your age, preferences, medical history, and overall health. To schedule a complete evaluation, call our office at 513-321-7673 or request an appointment online.
