Urge Incontinence Treatment

Relief Is Possible with Urge Incontinence Treatment

Dr. J. Kyle Mathews has diagnosed you with urge incontinence. What’s next? Treatment for urge incontinence usually consists of a combination of approaches, including behavioral changes, therapy and medications. Every woman is different, and treatment is customized to alleviate your frustrating UI symptoms.

Urge incontinence treatment may include a combination of these five approaches:

Behavior modification. With urge incontinence, you should avoid bladder irritants such as caffeine and alcohol, and manage fluid intake prior to bedtime. Visit the bathroom prior to exercising or physical activity, including sexual intercourse, and avoid lifting heavy objects. Behavior modification is usually combined with bladder training.

Bladder training. A common urge incontinence treatment, bladder training means learning to urinate according to a timetable rather than an urge to do so. Gradually, the scheduled time between trips to the bathroom is increased as the patient’s bladder control improves. Bladder training is sometimes called timed voiding.

Pelvic muscle therapy. You are likely familiar with Kegel exercises that strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor. Successful pelvic muscle therapy requires commitment (and the use of a trained therapist), but can yield great results in suppressing urgency and gaining control over urination.

Medication. Dr. Mathews will sometimes recommend medication as treatment for urge incontinence caused by an overactive bladder muscle. A representative list is available here>>>

Nerve stimulation. This therapy offers great promise for those patients who have not had success with — or could not tolerate — more conventional treatments for urge incontinence.

Let’s Begin with Biofeedback Urge Incontinence Treatment

Behavior modification, based on biofeedback, is a prudent place to begin after a diagnosis of urge incontinence. Biofeedback simply means listening and responding to your body’s natural rhythms. Dr. Mathews and his compassionate staff will empower you to actively participate in your treatment for urge incontinence by providing you with resources and tools to track bladder habits.

We will discuss diet modification, and the need to avoid known bladder irritants:

  • Alcohol
  • Coffee
  • Tea
  • Chocolate 
  • Tomatoes

Enlisting Nerve Stimulation in Urge Incontinence Treatment

The nervous system controls the urge to urinate and spasms that cause urine to flow into the urethra. When urge incontinence occurs, we can sometime enlist nerve stimulation to “jumpstart” the process.

Sacral Nerve Stimulation and Modulation

An implant, inserted in the low back through the use of a minimally invasive procedure, has proven effective as a treatment for urge incontinence. The therapy, sacral nerve stimulation and modulation, is referred to by its brand name: InterStim.

InterStim is an FDA approved treatment for urge incontinence that stimulates the sacral nerve near the tailbone to help restore control of the urinary bladder muscle. Dr. Mathews can schedule a test stimulation to determine if InterStim therapy will work for you.

Tibial Nerve Stimulation

You may also consider tibial nerve stimulation, an alternative treatment that doesn’t involve an implant. Tibial nerve stimulation is often used to effectively treat urinary urgency, frequency and urgency incontinence. This treatment uses the tibial nerve in your ankle to affect the nerves that control the bladder.

Tibial nerve stimulation is a relatively painless procedure with a 60 to 80 percent success rate. It takes only 30 minutes.

Dr. Mathews recommends a series of 12 initial treatments and maintenance therapy based on intervals that bring you relief from symptoms.

Dr. Mathews is committed to finding the right combination of treatments for urge incontinence to bring women relief from symptoms. If you suffer from bladder spasms, urge incontinence or embarrassing urine leakage, don’t delay in calling a urogynecologist.

Drug Therapy for Urge Incontinence>>