Urinary Incontinence

Between 20% and 50% of women experience spontaneous urination in their adult lives, but many never seek treatment. Urinary incontinence interrupts your daily routine and causes emotional distress. Help is available. If you suffer from incontinence, speak to your family physician about getting a referral to a gynecologist for a full assessment. If you are looking for laser therapy for the treatment of urinary incontinence, you must be referred by a gynecologist who feels this treatment is appropriate.

Urinary Incontinence Q & A

What is urinary incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary release of urine.

Stress incontinence is the most common kind of recurrent urinary leakage for women. It’s primarily due to weakness of the pelvic floor muscles. When you exert more pressure on your bladder (eg. by laughing, sneezing or coughing), the pelvic floor muscles are not strong enough to withstand this pressure and urine leakage occurs.

Urgency and urge incontinence is also known as overactive bladder syndrome (OAB). Urgency is the result of sudden contraction of the bladder muscle. This gives the patient the sensation of the need to urinate, even if they emptied their bladder a short while ago. Urge incontinence is when urine leakage occurs in association with this.

What factors are associated with urinary incontinence?

Different stimuli can trigger stress incontinence and urge incontinence:

Pregnancy- and childbirth-weakened pelvic floor muscles
Forceful coughing, sneezing, and laughing
Strenuous exercising
Menopause and other age-related weakening
Obesity and diabetes
Vaginal atrophy
Cold weather or touches
Sights and sounds of running water

Both can lead to embarrassment in public or private. Seeking treatment can help empower you.

How is urinary incontinence treated?

Since stress incontinence and urge incontinence have several causes, there are various treatment options. If you are suffering from incontinence, you need to have a complete assessment performed by a gynecologist. Afterward, you will be given recommendations for treatment.

How does laser therapy treat incontinence?

Dr. O’Toole and Dr. Tomas may consider recommending an innovative vaginal laser therapy service called MonaLisa Touch® for mild urinary incontinence. It’s a quick, safe, and painless procedure that requires no anesthesia.

It’s a high-tech tool that stimulates natural healing processes with no side effects and it has a brief recovery time.

For assistance in managing your urinary incontinence and a chance to live your life with fewer interruptions, call or request an appointment online today.