Treatment For Urinary Incontinence
It’s estimated that 14 million people in the UK are affected by some form of urinary incontinence. Being unable to control your bladder causes a lot of anxiety and worry; it can be incredibly debilitating and cause embarrassment. For some sufferers, it can also lead to severe social isolation.
For many years, urinary incontinence treatment was limited. Men and women had little choice in the solutions that they could try – thankfully, research and science have meant there are far more treatments for incontinence – and some of them are as easy as sitting in a chair…
Advocating For Women’s Health
Dr Shirin is a long-time advocate for women’s health and has created a clinic where you’ll be listened to with empathy and professionalism. With over 20 years of experience as a GP specialising in intimate health, she’s frequently invited to share her expertise on TV shows and radio programmes.
Dedicated to breaking the taboo of women’s health issues, Dr Shirin has made intimate health treatment more accessible.
The Causes Of Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence has many causes, the most typical being:
Pregnancy and Childbirth
This can cause stretched pelvic muscles from pregnancy and childbirth. Multiple births can pressure these muscles repeatedly, increasing the risk of incontinence.
Ageing
As you age, your oestrogen levels deplete. Oestrogen is the hormone that keeps your bladder and urethra healthy, and consequently, less oestrogen causes pelvic floor muscles to become weak, increasing the likelihood of leaking urine.
Menopause
Lower oestrogen levels associated with menopause weaken your pelvic floor.
Medication
Side effects from some medications can cause urinary incontinence; some of the most common are:
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
- Diuretics
- Some antidepressants
- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- Sedatives
Medical conditions
Certain medical conditions are associated with incontinence, too, such as:
- Diabetes
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Stroke
- Hip dysfunction and prior hip surgery
- Frequent constipation
Types Of Urinary Incontinence
Stress incontinence
This type of incontinence is when you exert pressure on your bladder by coughing, sneezing, laughing, exercising, or lifting something heavy.
Urge incontinence
You have a sudden, intense urge to urinate, followed by an involuntary loss of urine. You may need to urinate often, including throughout the night. Urge incontinence may be caused by a minor condition, such as infection, or a more severe condition, such as a neurological disorder or diabetes.
Overflow incontinence
You experience frequent or constant dribbling of urine due to a bladder that doesn’t empty.
Functional incontinence
A physical or mental impairment keeps you from making it to the toilet in time. For example, if you have severe arthritis, you may be unable to unbutton your clothes quickly enough.
Lifestyle Changes To Help Urinary Incontinence Treatment
You can make lifestyle changes that could help relieve urinary incontinence. These things may help reduce the issue, even if they don’t cure it.
- Cutting down/out caffeine & alcohol – You should also avoid eating spicy foods because they can irritate the lining of your bladder just like caffeine does.
- Bladder training – You can retrain your bladder to increase the amount of time between loo breaks gradually. When you feel the urge to urinate, hold it for another five minutes or so. Then gradually increase the amount of time by 10 minutes until you can last for at least three to four hours without having to go to the toilet.
- Weight management – Being overweight can weaken your pelvic floor muscles and cause incontinence because of the pressure on your bladder. Your symptoms may improve with weight loss.
- Kegel exercises – Pelvic floor strengthening techniques, like Kegel exercises, are among the most effective urinary incontinence treatments, but remembering to do them daily can be challenging.
Non-Surgical Urinary Incontinence Treatment
If you’ve made any recommended lifestyle choices and found that medication hasn’t worked, you might think that your final option is surgery.
But the good news is that there are a couple more things that you can try.
At Elite Aesthetics, we provide two non-surgical treatments that have proven highly successful for our patients with urinary incontinence.
The Emsella Chair
The Emsella chair is a revolutionary treatment that helps you complete pelvic floor exercises comfortably and effectively.
Strengthening your pelvic floor improves pelvic floor muscles, and each 28-minute session is the equivalent of 11,000 pelvic floor tenses – kegels – with 6 treatments recommended as a minimum.
It works by using electromagnetic technology to stimulate pelvic floor muscles. The device looks just like a chair, and during the procedure, you sit, fully clothed, on the chair whilst the electromagnets work their magic.
The results of the Emsella chair can last up to 12 months but can be extended with top-up treatments if needed.
The O Shot
The O-Shot uses platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to improve collagen production in your vaginal tissue. PRP contains essential cell-regenerating growth factors that can help tighten vaginal laxity to help reduce problems with urinary incontinence.
The procedure works by taking a small amount of your blood, which is spun at a high frequency within a centrifuge to separate the platelet-rich plasma. Your doctor will inject this PRP into your desired treatment area.
Women who have had the O-Shot report a dramatic decrease in their urinary incontinence symptoms. The O-Shot injection has demonstrated its success in treating stress incontinence.
The results can last up to 12 months and can be repeated if needed.
Next Steps
If urinary incontinence is bothering you and lifestyle changes haven’t made an impact, then one of our urinary incontinence treatments can help.
If you want to hear more about what you can do to treat urinary incontinence, book a private consultation. You can contact us by calling 01322 381 205, emailing info@elite-aesthetics.co.uk, or WhatsApp us.
At Elite Aesthetics, consultations are held in our award-winning clinic based in Greenhithe, Kent, just 20 minutes from London.
