Restoring confidence with minimally invasive surgery

There is nothing worse that having an unexpected leak, especially when you are away from home and unprepared. Don't let incontinence run your life. There are new minimally invasive surgery options that may help you regain your confidence and your social life!

Stress urinary incontinence occurs when urine leaks as a response to increased pressure on the bladder. This occurs when the person coughs, sneezes, laughs, stands, bends, jumps, or exercises. One in five women over 70 years of age have incontinence daily. Many women do not feel comfortable talking about this problem with their doctor, and never get evaluated or treated appropriately. Women don't have to suffer in silence. There are many treatment options available to incontinence patients including surgery.

Stress incontinence is the most common form of incontinence that is treated surgically. 'Surgery helps rebuild the urinary system's architecture to help restore normal bladder function. Surgical treatment is done to lift and support the connection between the bladder and the urethra,' says Lynn Osmundsen, M.D. Surgery can be done through the vagina, through the abdomen, or a combination of the two and includes:

Bladder suspensions or pulling the bladder up to a more normal position and securing it to muscle, ligament or bone.

Sling procedures are often performed on patients with severe stress incontinence and intrinsic sphincter deficiencies. The goal is to create sufficient urethral compression to achieve bladder control.

Artificial sphincters may help patients who are incontinent after surgery for prostate cancer or stress incontinence, trauma victims and patients with birth defects in the urinary tract.

The treatment options for incontinence range from lifestyle changes and exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles to medications, injections and finally surgery. If you and your doctor decide that surgery is right for you, rest assured that there are minimally invasive techniques that will help stop the leaks and return you to an active, worry-free lifestyle.