Urinary Incontinence

What is urinary incontinence?

Urinary incontinence occurs when you no longer have complete control over your bladder. Therefore, you experience some unintentional urinary leakage. This often happens at inappropriate times, and significant embarrassment or self-consciousness are often the result. 

The team at Yorktown Health has experience treating several different types of urinary incontinence with varied characteristics. They ask about your symptoms as well as when and how the incontinence occurs. 

Then they might diagnose you with:

Stress incontinence

Leaks from stress incontinence happen when pressure affects your bladder. The pressure could come from sneezing, coughing, laughing, or lifting heavy objects. 

Urge incontinence

Urge incontinence leaks happen when you suddenly feel the intense need to urinate, but cannot make it to a restroom in time. You involuntarily urinate soon after you get the urge. 

Overflow incontinence

Overflow incontinence develops when your bladder doesn’t empty entirely when you visit the restroom. The remaining urine leaks out later at inconvenient times. 

Mixed incontinence

Mixed incontinence is a combination of the other types of urinary incontinence. 

What causes urinary incontinence?

There are many potential contributing factors to urinary incontinence. If you have stress, urge, or overflow incontinence, your condition may be due in part to:

• Changes related to pregnancy and childbirth
• Menopause
• Being overweight
• Nerve damage
• Constipation
• Surgery
• A urinary tract infection (UTI)
• Certain medications and substances (caffeine, diuretics)

Your provider at Yorktown Health performs a full evaluation and asks numerous questions about your lifestyle and health history. They identify factors related to your urinary incontinence in order to build you a custom treatment plan for better bladder control. 

What are my options for urinary incontinence treatment?

Fortunately, urinary incontinence is treatable. The team at Yorktown Health selects treatments and home care steps appropriate for your lifestyle and the causes behind your incontinence. 

Your personalized plan of treatment may include:

• Kegel exercises
• Bladder training
• Weight loss
• Habit changes (smoking cessation, cutting out caffeine)
• Topical estrogen
• Oral medications for an overactive bladder
• Vaginal pessary (silicone device for pelvic floor support)
• Collagen or other bulking agents
• Electrical stimulation
• Juliet™ laser vaginal revitalization 

Surgery is rarely necessary for urinary incontinence, but the team might recommend surgical options if noninvasive therapies don’t improve your bladder control. A sling procedure, for example, helps keep your urethra closed so you can avoid stress incontinence leakage. 

If urinary incontinence affects you daily or often enough to disrupt your life, call Yorktown Health or schedule an evaluation online today.