Stress Urinary Incontinence
Leaking Urine? Don’t Stress!
Most women, at some point in life, will experience pregnancy and childbirth. All will experience age and menopause. Some will experience cancer treatment. Any of these experiences can cause an all-too-common problem – stress urinary incontinence. SUI is not only common, it is also under-discussed and under-treated. Dr. Russo at Essenza Health will help you find modern solutions for modern women. We can help you find just the right treatment for your situation to get you back to the activities you enjoy.
What is Stress Urinary Incontinence?
Urinary incontinence is defined as the unintentional loss of urine. Stress urinary incontinence is related to the loss of urine with the onset of physical activity – running, lifting, coughing, sneezing, etc. These activities can add pressure and stress to your bladder causing leakage.
Age and life events like childbirth and menopause cause natural changes to a woman’s body. Those changes can have a negative effect on the health of her vagina due to extreme fluctuations in estrogen production as well as any physical stressors that compromise the integrity of the tissues. Both childbirth and aging alter a woman’s bladder function, often resulting in stress urinary incontinence.
Traditional Incontinence Treatments
More traditionally, common stress urinary incontinence treatment has included:
- Kegel exercises – strengthening of pelvic floor muscles which can aid the ability to control stress urinary incontinence
- Biofeedback therapy – Enables patients to get real-time feedback while learning how to train their pelvic floor muscles to get stronger
- Weight loss – to reduce the amount of internal pressure being placed on the bladder
- Medications – to treat an overactive bladder
- Pessary – a device placed in the vagina to provide physical support to the pelvic organs.
- Surgery – Sling/mesh placement that is placed to reposition the neck of the bladder or urethra to eliminate stress incontinence
- Biofeedback treatment – making dietary changes to reduce or eliminate foods and beverages that may be causing the bladder to fill more quickly or which irritate the bladder
Modern Treatments: Get Your Stress Urinary Incontinence Under Control
At Essenza Health, we offer urinary incontinence treatment options that go beyond these traditional methods. We provide solutions that are safe, effective, gentle and far less invasive than many other treatments.
These treatments include:
diVa® laser vaginal therapy – which is the only hybrid laser to resurface and strengthen the tissues of the vaginal wall. Treatment is beneficial not only to enhance sexual function but also to decrease the occurrence of leakage of urine that often occurs as a result of stress incontinence
BioTE® – bio-identical hormone replacement, utilizing hormone replacement pellet therapy with FDA-approved bio-identical hormones, treats hormone imbalances that may be causing a loss of strength in the pelvic floor tissues and muscles
O-Shot® – injections which are extremely effective in their ability to strengthen and firm the anterior walls of the vagina, and also play a crucial role in controlling stress urinary incontinence. They can also improve the ability to achieve orgasm