Urination is the end point of a process in which your body breaks down waste and excess water and removes it from your body after moving it through your urinary tract. This system filters the blood, separates the toxins from the nutrients, and removes what you don’t need through your kidneys, ureter, bladder, and urethra. Problems that affect any part of this system can make this necessary process harder, make urinating more difficult, and lead to embarrassing moments if you lose control of your bladder.
Urinary incontinence can cause a variety of problems for this system, striking any part of it and making urinating a difficult experience. You can find yourself struggling with multiple types of this condition, which come from different causes. Let’s explore these issues and how to treat them by examining the types of urinary incontinence, their causes and risk factors, and what methods of treatment are available.
If you live in the Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, or South Florida area and you’re trying to cope with the symptoms of urinary incontinence, Drs. Craig Herman and Steven Kester and their team at the Urology Center of Florida can help.
This loss of bladder control can range in severity from mild issues with dribbling before you can get to the bathroom. There are five types of urinary incontinence:
Several things affect your chances of dealing with this illness, such as age, enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia), bladder or prostate cancer, neurological conditions, infections in the urinary tract, diabetes, and obesity. This illness becomes more common as you get older, but it’s not a natural part of aging and should be treated as soon as symptoms appear. Other risk factors include bladder or kidney stones, prostate inflammation (prostatitis), and various medications for your blood pressure and heart, as well as muscle relaxants and sedatives.
Various options are available for managing and treating urinary incontinence, such as lifestyle changes, medications,and procedures. You can employ some methods of coping with this condition at home, like timed voidings (emptying your bladder on a regular schedule), using Kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor, and avoiding drinking lots of fluids like caffeine before activities. Other changes like reaching a healthy weight, practicing bladder training, and using pads can also help reduce incidents.
A range of medications can help to reduce leaking, stabilize muscle contractions in the bladder, and relax bladder muscles. Procedures that can help include bulking agents, Botox® injections, neuromodulation devices, pelvic slings, and artificial urethral sphincters. The solution that best fits your needs will depend on the causes of your urinary incontinence.
If you’re seeing signs of this problem, make an appointment with Drs. Herman or Kester and their team at the Urology Center of Florida today to get the help you need. You can call us or send us a message online.
