SEATTLE — Half of American women 65 years old and older and more than 40% of those ages 50 to 64 experience some type of urinary incontinence.
“It’s defined as the involuntary loss of urine and also, in some cases, people have accidental bowel leakage too,” said Dr. Karny Jacoby, urogynecologist at Overlake Medical Center and Clinics. “It’s the involuntary loss when you’re doing different maneuvers or if you have a sudden urgency to go.”
Incontinence affects more women than men, but both genders do experience the condition. A common type of incontinence is stress urinary incontinence, which refers to leakage from increased abdominal pressure.
“For example, if you’re going to cough or sneeze or hit a tennis ball or golf ball or step off a curb, you might have an increase in your abdominal pressure, and that could result in involuntary loss of urine,” Dr. Jacoby said.
Treatment options for stress urinary incontinence include:
- Physical therapy to improve strength and coordination of the muscles and ligaments.
- Muscle strengthening by direct nerve stimulation devices.
- Vaginal devices that support the urethra by physical compression.
- Bulking agents that plump tissue tone.
- Mid-urethral slings, a minimally invasive vaginal procedure.
Another common type of incontinence is overactive bladder, or urge incontinence, where the bladder contracts when it isn’t supposed to, causing the sudden strong urge to urinate.
“The urge incontinence is really more where the bladder is squeezing without its owner’s permission,” Dr. Jacoby said.
Treatment options for urge incontinence include:
- Behavioral modifications, like avoiding caffeinated and acidic beverages, alcohol and spicy food.
- Medications.
- Bladder Botox injections to block the ability of some nerves to communicate with bladder or sphincter muscles.
- InterStim and Axonics implant devices to improve the communication pathway between the brain and the bladder by stimulating nerve roots that control bladder and bowel function.
“I think the important thing to note is wherever you are on that pathway, there’s lots of options,” Dr. Jacoby said. “At Overlake with our pelvic providers, we just find out what you want to do and tailor the treatment to what’s comfortable to you.”
To get more information about pelvic health services and treatments, visit the Overlake Medical Center website.
Sponsored by Overlake Medical Center and Clinics.
Segment Producer Joseph Suttner. Watch New Day Northwest 11 a.m. weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.