Addressing An Age Related Problem

It is well understood by the medical profession that the prevalence of urinary incontinence increases with age.
Statistics reveal, of persons aged 60 and above, over 30% are incontinent. Women seem to be more affected by this problem than men.

“Urinary incontinence does not cause increased mortality”, says a doctor specializing in performing urinary incontinence surgery in Maryland. “But it negatively impacts the individual’s emotional well-being and quality of life”.

As persons age, the caregiver burden can be very high. The estimated annual urinary incontinence related costs run to more than $30 billion.

There are several clinical types of incontinence:
• Urge incontinence
• Transient incontinence
• Stress incontinence
• Overflow incontinence
If a person feels they have symptoms of incontinence, an assessment and evaluation by a specialist urologist is necessary.

Most of the doctors feel that the treatment objective must be to correct factors that are causing incontinence.
In many cases, behavioral changes and medications can relieve symptoms.

The options doctors suggest include exercises and lifestyle changes.

“Most cases of incontinence can show marked improvement with behavioral treatments”, says a specialist of urinary incontinence surgery Maryland.

A combination of Kegel exercises and bladder training is probably the best first-line approach.

Here are a few that can help relieve the symptoms:
• Kegel exercises - This involves flexing the muscles that stop urinary flow. According to doctors, if these exercises are done diligently as instructed for 6-12 weeks, significant improvement can be seen,
• Lose weight – For overweight individuals, a drop in weight can reduce the severity of symptoms.
• Train to put off the need to urinate – To start with, you can delay for 10 minutes and then gradually build up the time.
• Vitamins – Supplements containing magnesium and Vitamin D can help relieve the symptoms.
• Using a pessary – Some doctors recommend women to use a ring-like device called a pessary. It can help minimize stress incontinence.

In case any of the above treatments do not help, a considered strategy must be recommended to move from least invasive to more invasive treatments.

For women, open bladder and urethral surgery is recommended by doctors to prevent leakage caused by stress incontinence.

Stress incontinence is involuntary leakage caused by sneezing, coughing, or lifting weights.

There are two approaches for this surgery.
1. Through the abdominal wall
2. Through the vagina
A doctor who also performs vaginoplasty in Westminster MD recommends the latter because it is less invasive and thus more popular with patients.
Possible risks
As with any procedure, incontinence surgery has its share of risks, such as:
• Injury to the bladder or urethra
• Overactive bladder
• Reactions to medications
• Bleeding and/or infection
In any case, surgery must, of course, be the last option. Studies have shown that Kegel exercises alone have given improvement to nearly 70% of the patients.

With the percentage of aging population on the rise, the figure of urinary incontinence is bound to increase. In such a scenario, promoting behavioral therapy must be given its due importance.