You’re definitely not the first person who has leaked urine while laughing, coughing, or rushing to the bathroom and you won’t be the last. Incontinence in women is real; however, you don’t have to live this way.
A couple extensive studies across the United States provide a wide range of estimates that indicate incontinence occurs in over 50% of all adult women at some point and nearly one-third of them report symptoms at least on a monthly basis.
There are many things you can do to help improve the situation, ranging from small changes to your daily routine to doing specific exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor, using hormone therapy as an option for treatment and even a variety of medical office treatments in Fort Collins. This is a non-hype resource that is easy to use and provides practical information so you can determine which options will fit into your lifestyle.
A Quick Guide to “Incontinence in Women”
Most women’s symptoms will fit into one of these three categories:
- Stress Incontinence: Leaks that occur due to an increase in abdominal pressure (e.g., laughing, coughing or sneezing, jumping).
- Urge Incontinence / Overactive Bladder: A sudden, urgent need to void.
- Mixed Incontinence: Both types listed above are occurring.
Identifying your type of incontinence will assist you as well as your healthcare provider in developing a treatment plan for you.
Why This Happens (And Why It Is Not Your Fault!)
A variety of factors may contribute to incontinence in women, including but not limited to:
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Changes in hormone levels
- Changes to the pelvic floor
- Constipation
- High-Impact Exercise (e.g. running, dancing)
- Certain Medicines
- Weight Changes
None of these conditions are due to a character flaw; they are all due to normal biological processes, and there are many ways that women with incontinence can find relief.
How hormones can help
Many people find that by providing gentle local support to their tissues, they will become healthier and feel more comfortable, as well as have improved tissue health and functioning of their urethral and vaginal walls:
- Low-dose vaginal estrogen may make some women’s vagina and urethra less dry, provide additional support to their urethral and vaginal wall tissues, and, for some women, will decrease their need to get up at night to urinate and the frequency of their urges during the day.
- Women who experience hot flashes, brain fog and poor sleep due to their menopause may want to consider whole body hormone replacement therapy to restore hormonal balance and allow the bladder and pelvic tissues to function more comfortably.
Discuss with your clinician in Fort Collins if hormone replacement therapy is an option for you based on your medical history. Many women combine incontinence treatments with low-dose hormone replacement therapy to increase their overall comfort.
Your first steps (often the biggest wins)
1. Use a pelvic floor exercise program with a pelvic floor physical therapist or utilize a smart device. Within weeks, many of these women will note they are leaking less.
2. Small lifestyle changes can have a greater impact than most would expect:
- Drink throughout the day instead of “front-loading” your fluids or “panic-drinking”.
- Reduce your intake of bladder irritants (caffeine, energy drinks, certain teas, artificial sweeteners).
- Managing constipation, a softer stool will mean less pressure is placed on the bladder.
- Try timed voiding to train your body to respond to urgency.
- If you’re overweight, gentle weight loss may also help to decrease the amount of pressure on the bladder and reduce leaks.
3. Use pads and liners as a bridge, but don’t think about using them as your permanent solution.
Office-based treatments: Options Beyond “Just Deal With It”
While many office-based treatments work well as foundational options, if a woman’s incontinence is not improving sufficiently from her basic treatment plan, there are several ways her provider can develop a more targeted plan using a variety of therapy options.
Each option could be referred to as a tool used by the provider to address the woman’s specific stress vs. urge incontinence needs:
Energy-Based Pelvic Therapies:
The energy-based pelvic therapies may include V-tone, Forma-V, or Morpheus-V (This is not an exhaustive list) which can apply a combination of pelvic floor stimulation and/or controlled heat to promote and maintain the strength/tone of pelvic muscles and improve the quality of the surrounding tissues.
Many women have reported significant improvement in controlling their urine leakage and urgency, as well as a reduction in discomfort, as a result of a relatively short course of energy-based pelvic therapy sessions.
The frequency and maintenance of these sessions vary depending on the individual and the results she experiences. Energy-based pelvic therapies are not a quick fix, but rather a practical office-based treatment option to supplement a woman’s treatment plan.
Medications:
There are prescription medication options available for incontinence in women who experience urgency and/or overactive bladder symptoms. The medication chosen should balance the benefits of the medication with any potential side effects experienced by the woman.
Urethral Bulking (Office Procedure):
Urethral bulking is an office procedure that involves placing a small amount of bulking material just inside the urethra. This material supports closure of the urethra and reduces the likelihood of urine leakage during coughing/jumping activities.
Sling Surgery (For Stress Incontinence):
Sling surgery is another surgical option available for women who experience stress incontinence that has not been adequately managed through alternative non-surgical methods. If sling surgery is deemed suitable for a woman, it has the potential to provide long-term relief from urinary incontinence. However, not all women will be candidates for sling surgery.
“How much will it help me?”
Consider all of the above as part of a continuum with pads/liners being a confidence builder but not addressing the underlying issue.
Pelvic floor training & lifestyle modification: Most often significantly decreases number of leak incidents; a building block for every treatment plan.
Local/hormonal treatments: May decrease urgency, nocturia and discomfort; can also enhance the effectiveness of other treatments.
Energy based treatments (V-Tone, Forma-V, Morpheus-V): Short-term goal of less frequent leakage, better bladder control and improved sensation in tissues; long term results are built upon previous results.
Urge/overactive bladder medications: Decrease urge to urinate and/or frequency.
Surgical procedures/bulking (sling, etc.): Corrective surgery when stress related leakage continues to occur.
You can have 2-3 of the above simultaneously. The benefit is having the freedom to laugh, run, sleep, and engage in intimacy without needing to plan your day around bathroom stops.
How to choose your next step
First of all, incontinence in women CAN be treated. Plan ahead for your appointment by preparing a short description of your symptoms: when you leak (frequency), what you have attempted to control it (methods) and what you think may cause the leakage (triggers).
Ask your provider to determine which of the three patterns (stress, urge or mixed) is responsible for your incontinence.
- Can Pelvic Floor Therapy & Local Hormone Treatment Help First?
- Will Energy-Based Therapies (e.g., Laser, Radio Frequency, etc.) or Medications be an Option for My Pattern?
- If Stress Leaks Continue – Am I a Candidate for Bulking (e.g., Midurethral Sling)?
You don’t have to “just live with it.” Incontinence in women is common and treatable, and it’s reasonable to expect better days, and dry workouts, dry laughs, and restful nights.
And if you’d like guidance along the way, we can help at Ideal Metabolic Health & Body with a personalized plan and supportive care tailored to your goals in Fort Collins.
