Urinary incontinence refers to the situation that people have already leaked urine before they reach the toilet, and there are many treatment methods for urinary incontinence, but the specific treatment method depends on the cause of urinary incontinence and the severity of the disease.
Doctors may recommend simple lifestyle changes, medications, or surgery. Usually, it is recommended to try treatment options that have the least impact on the body first.
Changing one's own lifestyle habits (what doctors call behavioral changes) can play a role in the following two main types of urinary incontinence:
Change lifestyle habits
Stress urinary incontinence, which occurs when activities such as sneezing or lifting weight, put pressure on the bladder.
Urge urinary incontinence is a symptom of overactive bladder, and the desire to urinate is uncontrollable.
Image credit: pixabay
Behavior changes
Sometimes, making small adjustments to your daily habits can help control urinary incontinence:
Bladder exercises
This means controlling when and how often you go to the toilet. First, keep a note around the clock to make a note of your habits, including what you drank and how you felt before you leaked urine.
This helps the doctor to develop a schedule. As the time between visits to the toilet gets longer and longer, the bladder is effectively stretched so that it can hold more urine.
Pelvic floor movements
You've probably heard of Kegel gymnastics. This is a simple way to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which generally become weak after childbirth and are also associated with age. To do kegle gymnastics, you must first tighten the muscles, then relax the muscles, and repeat it many times. This helps to control urine flow.
Quit smoking
Smoking causes a constant cough, which can make urination difficult to control. If you smoke regularly, you will constantly stimulate the muscles of the bladder. Smoking is also one of the main causes of bladder cancer.
Suppresses urgent urinary urges
This is a way to control the sudden strong urge to urinate, and it is another type of bladder training. It includes distraction, deep breathing and doing kgel gymnastics.
Limit daytime water intake
In addition, doctors will recommend limiting the amount of water you drink during the day and avoiding caffeine and alcohol whenever possible. Losing weight can also help.
Medical articles
The following items can be inserted into the urethra (the tube that drains urine from the bladder) to help relieve stress urinary incontinence.
Urethral inserts
A bit like a tampon, this disposable device can act as a barrier to prevent urine leakage during certain special activities.
Vaginal uterine rest
If the bladder prolapses (descends), this ring device can be used as a support.
It is possible to insert and install a hysteria directly in the office, but it needs to be removed and cleaned frequently. Using a vaginal pessary can help avoid surgery.
Filler
Fillers such as carbon beads and collagen fill the space in the bladder after urination and retain it. The treatment is indicated for acute and stress urinary incontinence, and injections of fillers can be done in the office.
Over time, the filler will gradually lose, so it needs to be filled again.
drugs
Estrogen replacement therapy. The use of cream or vaginal rings can uplift the area around the patient's urethra and prevent urinary leakage. This therapy treats two types of urinary incontinence.
pseudoephedrine
Drugs such as pseudoephedrine can be used to enhance urethral tone and thus have an effect on stress urinary incontinence.
Try multiple medications
There are many medications that can be used for acute urinary incontinence, mainly by relaxing the bladder and relieving spasms, but sometimes it can also make patients feel a sudden need to urinate.
So some attempts are needed to find the right medication.
Botulinum toxin injection
Botulinum toxin injections also help relax the bladder, but are sometimes also used to treat neurological disorders such as spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis.
Surgery
If other treatments for stress urinary incontinence do not work, doctors will recommend surgery. The success rate of this type of surgery is high.
Suspension surgery
Suspension surgery is the most common procedure. Doctors support the urethra with mesh and tissue, and surgery is usually done on an outpatient basis, with only local anesthesia required. That is, the patient is awake during the procedure and can be discharged from the hospital on the same day.
Retropubic vaginal suspension
Doctors generally choose this method in combination with other methods, and if the bladder has fallen off (doctors may use the word "prolapse"), the doctor will hang and support the entrance tissue of the bladder with sutures.
Nerve electrical stimulation
Electrical impulses can stimulate the bladder, change the way the bladder responds, and help control urination. Surgery requires general anesthesia and can also be done in an outpatient setting with a battery-powered stimulator.
Sacral nerve stimulation
Doctors implant a stimulator (it acts like a pacemaker) under the skin of the lower back. These painless electrical impulses block the signal from the bladder to the brain that it needs to urinate.
Doing sacral nerve stimulation also strengthens the pelvic muscles and increases blood flow to the bladder.
In addition, sacral nerve stimulation also prompts the body to release "painkillers."
Tibial nerve irritation
The stimulator triggers the tibia nerve located at the ankle, which transmits electrical stimulation to the spine, affecting the nerves in the spine that control the bladder.
Other therapeutic measures
Medical treatments can help control the condition, but sometimes additional protection is needed to boost your own confidence and comfort, which may include:
catheter
If the bladder is still not completely empty after urination, doctors may recommend the use of a urinary catheter.
A catheter is a very thin hose that is inserted into the urethra. Patients can also insert themselves, but keep it clean and use it as needed throughout the day.
Pads
Adult pads and underwear are already very common, can be purchased in many places and can be used at any time.
*The content of this article is a popularization of health knowledge and cannot be used as a specific diagnosis and treatment recommendation, nor is it a substitute for face-to-face consultation by a practicing physician, for reference only.
*The copyright of this article belongs to Tencent Medical Code, unauthorized media reprinting is prohibited, and illegal reprinting will be investigated for legal responsibility according to law. Individuals are welcome to forward to the circle of friends.
* Welcome to WeChat search and pay attention to the public account "Tencent Medical Code She Knows" to get more health science knowledge.