What is Urinary Incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is the loss of bladder control or accidental leaking of urine. According to the National Association for Continence, over 25 million adult Americans experience temporary or chronic urinary incontinence. Stress, Urge, and mixed urinary incontinence are common conditions that affect 1 in 3 women at some point in their lives. In the US, more feminine pads are used for incontinence than for menstruation. Urinary incontinence can mean you leak a small amount of urine or release a lot of urine all at once.  Dealing with stress, urge and or mixed urinary incontinence can be frustrating, and sometimes embarrassing, but luckily there are treatment options available to help with these issues.

What are symptoms of Urinary Incontinence?

Common symptoms of urinary incontinence, although each individual may experience symptoms differently, are the need to rush to the restroom and/or losing urine if you do not get to the restroom in time, urine leakage with movements such as exercise, coughing, sneezing or laughing, leakage of urine that prevents activities, leakage of urine that began or continued after surgery, leakage of urine that causes embarrassment, constant feeling of wetness without sensation of urine leakage, feeling of incomplete bladder emptying. Incontinence can happen when the bladder muscles suddenly tighten and the sphincter muscles are not strong enough to pinch the urethra shut. It can range from the discomfort of slight losses of urine to severe, frequent wetting. This condition is also caused by weakness of the pelvic floor muscles, which usually tends to happen as we get older, with pregnancy and with certain pelvic floor conditions

Who is affected by Urinary Incontinence?

Urinary incontinence occurs more often in women than in men. This may be because pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause may make urinary incontinence more likely. Weak bladder muscles, overactive bladder muscles, and nerve damage may also cause urinary incontinence in women.  Urinary incontinence can occur at any age, but it is more common among women over 50. Even though, Urinary Incontinence is common in women it is not a normal part of aging, and it can be treated.

Types of Urinary Incontinence

The two most common types of urinary incontinence that affect women are stress incontinence and urge incontinence, also known as overactive bladder.

Urinary Urgency incontinence is when the patient suffers from a sudden strong urge to urinate, the inability to hold urine long enough to reach a restroom causes urine leakage. It can also be associated with having to urinate often. It can be a separate condition, but it may also be an indication of other diseases or conditions that would also warrant medical attention.

Stress incontinence: is the accidental leakage of urine, usually in small amounts during exercise, coughing, sneezing, laughing, lifting heavy objects or performing other body movements that put pressure on the bladder.

Mixed continence occurs when you have both stress and urinary urgency incontinence at the same time. 

Functional incontinence: This is urine leakage due to a difficulty reaching a restroom in time because of physical conditions, such as arthritis, injury or other disabilities.

Overflow incontinence is when leakage occurs when the quantity of urine produced exceeds the bladder’s capacity to hold it.

How is Urinary Incontinence managed and/or treated?

Before Empower RF by InMode, some women may have chosen to wear protective pads, shields or diapers to protect their clothing from urine leakage. Dr. Casey E. Laws and the professionally trained staff of Tite Lines Medical Spa can now offer help with Urinary Incontinence treatment through the innovative modalities of Empower RF such as Forma V, V Tone and Morpheus8 V. Treatment plans depend on the type of incontinence and your symptoms. A consultation is required to determine

The best option for your individual treatment.