When you can’t reliably control your bladder, opportunities for embarrassment appear almost everywhere. It’s hard to live your life to the fullest when you’re regularly worried about stress urinary incontinence (SUI). When you live with this type of concern, you struggle a lot more to enjoy the summer.
It can even be challenging to bring the issue up to your trusted gynecologist. However, it’s well worth talking to board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Kristin M. Jackson and the team at Advanced Urogynecology of Maitland, Florida, about your urinary incontinence concerns. We offer treatment options such as urethral bulking that can relieve your symptoms and restore your peace of mind. How does urethral bulking work to prevent leaks? Here’s what you need to know.
Stress incontinence refers to urine leakage after exertion, potentially including coughing, sneezing, or laughing. This condition occurs due to an underlying weakness in the pelvic floor muscles or the urethra, the tube through which urine exits the body.
If you have this problem, you’re not alone. Around 78 million women experience urinary incontinence in the United States alone, with SUI specifically making up more than 37% of cases. Incontinence can also be due to an overactive bladder.
You’re more likely to struggle with stress incontinence if you’ve given birth or often engage in heavy lifting. Chronic coughing or constipation increases your risk, as does obesity. Women are more likely to develop SUI while going through menopause.
The good news is, stress incontinence is typically treatable. Physical therapy exercises help many, and other treatment options are also available. If you’re not ready to consider surgery for incontinence, treatments like urethral bulking may be right for you.
One way to prevent urine leaks is to narrow the urethra. Urethral bulking treatment accomplishes this via an injectable bulking agent. Your treatment may use collagen or a water-based gel to bulk up this part of your body and stop urinary leaks and incontinence from occurring, no matter your stress level.
This type of treatment works well if surgery isn’t an option for you. It’s ideal for women with stress incontinence primarily caused by weakness in the muscle around the urethra’s sphincter. Before recommending urethral bulking, Dr. Jackson confirms the right type of treatment for you. She may order urodynamics testing to learn more about your condition and care needs.
In the procedure, Dr. Jackson injects the bulking agent in the area around your urethra, near the neck of your bladder. She doesn’t need to make any cuts or incisions for the treatment, which uses specially designed tools. You may need local anesthesia or general anesthesia for your procedure in order to maintain your comfort. In most cases, treatment only takes a single day. Dr. Jackson follows up to make sure that your bladder is emptying correctly.
Your results with urethral bulking appear as soon as you recover from treatment. 60-70% of patients who undergo urethral bulking report improvement of SUI symptoms, or even a complete cure. Your results may lessen over time. It’s possible that you may need a booster injection at some point down the road in order to maintain your best incontinence prevention results.
If you have SUI and an overactive bladder, urethral bulking can be used in combination with other treatments in order to more fully address your symptoms.
You don’t need to go through the stress of SUI or involuntary bladder leaks alone. In fact, it’s best to communicate about your incontinence concerns to Dr. Jackson and the Advanced Urogynecology team. When you partner with our urinary and gynecological experts, you know you’ll receive the best possible care.
To learn more about SUI treatment and urethral bulking, contact Advanced Urogynecology online or over the phone to schedule your appointment now.
