In this text, we will get acquainted with the medical term involuntary urination or urinary incontinence, which many women will recognize when we say that it is the inability to control urination. This health issue comes with age, but younger women can also have it. Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic, urologist at the Atlas General Hospital, explains what the cause is and why it is happening.
What are the causes of urinary incontinence?
Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic: ” Most women think that involuntary urination is normal, but it is not. Because with aging, the pelvic floor muscles relax and there is a loss of statics that was previously normal. Later, due to the relaxation of these muscles, involuntary urination occurs. What it means? This means that a small canal, called the urethra, comes out of the bladder, which is standing normally. With this relaxation of the muscles that held the urethra in one right position, the urethra descends lower. ”
Stress that leads to involuntary urination
Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic: ” When you cough, sneeze, laugh, run, practice yoga, everything that increases the intra-abdominal (stomach) pressure and pushes the bladder. As a result of any of these actions, you will not be able to retain urine, and you will urinate involuntarily. It’s becoming a growing problem for women, and it always has been, only not much has been said about it before. ”
Is urinary incontinence more common in older people?
Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic: ” Young women also contact us, especially if they have given birth. It’s not always connected. Women who have not given birth also have a chance of getting this issue. I have already operated on women aged 30-35, up to women in their eighties and over eighties. ”
Such issues and the discomfort caused by them impair the quality of life of many women. Women avoid the activities they like, if they cause involuntary urination. They retreat into themselves because they don’t know when that will happen.
Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic: ” These are problems in everyday life, there’s that uncomfortable feeling. First that you are wet, that you use pads that increase the urinary infection because you they are full of urine. It is also a cost for the woman herself, buying those sanitary pads. Quality of life in the sense that you can’t go jogging, practice yoga because you have urine smell on you. You feel uncomfortable, you don’t know when you will be wet. The other thing is that even during sexual intercourse, there is involuntary urination, which is very uncomfortable for women. ”
Today, this is a topic that is being talked about, which is very important because medicine can solve these health issues.
If you feel any discomfort, you should contact urologist first. There is a conservative way of treatment that usually brings a temporary solution. These are Kegel exercises. As a preventive measure, they are recommended for strengthening the pelvic floor muscles, and the use of herbal preparations affects the production of collagen in the muscles.
The right and permanent solution is minimally invasive surgery.
Urinary incontinence surgery
Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic: ” The operation involves the placement of one strip-mesh (sling) under spinal or general anesthesia which is very short-term. The intervention lasts 15-20 minutes. The strip is passed through the obturator foramen. The cut is only a centimeter and a half, two centimeters on the vagina, and the next day the patient goes home. What is very important is that there is no pain and no bandaging after the intervention. It is also important that you follow the advice you receive after the intervention, which is minimal physical activity. For the first seven days, the patient is at home, but with rest as if in the hospital ward. Only one cream and antiseptic spray are used in postoperative recovery. It is very important that patients follow all the doctor’s advice and reduce physical activity. When we say for the first 7 days that the patient is mostly inactive, it means going to the toilet, takes a little walk and that’s it. ”
Recovery after intervention
Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic: ” We have put a strip (sling) that now, conditionally speaking, lies between the tissues. This means that it needs time to heal and to permeate with tissue, because the wound heals in 7 days. So, the first seven days are very important for the sling to be fixed. After that, another 5 weeks of abstinence from activities are needed: running, squatting, sexual intercourse, and everything that increases the intra-abdominal pressure. Due to the listed activities, there may be a movement – pushing the sling and you will make a dislocation again. Fortunately, we can fix that if there is a dislocation. I don’t think it’s the point that you come to surgery more than once. I can surgically fix it like my colleagues, but it would be best to be disciplined 6 weeks after the intervention. After that, absolutely everything returns to normal. ”
Involuntary urination – life after surgery
Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic: ” Women are 99% very satisfied with the results. They are dry, it is totally a new life, so at least the patients claim. For women who have suffered more and waited longer for intervention, it is a really huge change for them and they are very satisfied. Women who call in time to solve the problem of involuntary urination, return to a normal life and cannot imagine that they no longer have to wear sanitary pad, that they are free and comfortable. For a very long time, they have this feeling that they can’t get used to being dry again. They wear a pad for a very long time as a preventive measure to make sure that there are no urine leaks, but the method is very elegant, minimally surgically invasive and, most importantly, successful. ”
Are you willing to help yourself?
Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic: ” We are talking about it more and more, more and more women know about this method and that stress urinary incontinence or involuntary urination is treatable. The more we talk about this topic, the more women will be encouraged to contact us and solve their problem, very easily and successfully, restoring their quality of life. ”
At Atlas General Hospital, we offer one of the latest solutions for this symptom, which has recently been applied in Europe.
Dr. Sladjana Kovacevic: ” It is an artificial gel, which is injected into the canal itself, into the urethra, through a special needle.” The female urethra is short and when the gel is injected, it closes, that is, captures that space, and that solution is somewhat temporary. Until the woman decides to do the intervention with the sling, the method with the hydrogel will serve the next 2-3 months to keep the patient dry, to be safe when, for example, she goes on a trip. If we are talking about elderly patients, and we do not have the consent of the anesthesiologist, then the gel is the only solution. It is the latest form of treatment for involuntary urination, which has appeared in Serbia and in the region. ”
Dear ladies, there is a solution to such an unpleasant health issue. There is no reason for it to bother you and ruin your quality of life. At Atlas Hospital you can choose between several methods. You can opt for a gel injection, or for platelet-rich plasma injections, or for minimally invasive surgery, which is a permanent solution.
As a precaution, practice persistently Kegel exercises. You can see the whole article by clicking HERE.
For all additional information call our call center 0117858888 or 0603292411
