My Incontinence Is Embarrassing: Can You Help?

Incontinence is not something a lot of people like to talk about, but given that it affects 50% of adult women, it deserves serious attention. 

Urinary incontinence can affect your confidence, lifestyle, and daily activities. It disrupts your sleep with nighttime trips to the bathroom, makes long travel challenging, and can even lead you to avoid exercises that might worsen urine leakage.

If you experience an accident due to incontinence, it’s embarrassing and makes you want to avoid public outings as much as possible.

Fortunately, there are effective treatments and supportive care options available to help you manage and even overcome incontinence. The OB/GYN team at Women’s Care of Beverly Hills is here to provide you with compassionate, expert care to address this concern and restore your quality of life.

Understanding urinary incontinence

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary loss of bladder control, which can range from occasional leaks to more frequent or severe symptoms. Common types of incontinence include:

Stress incontinence

Stress incontinence is often triggered by physical activities that put pressure on the bladder, such as coughing, sneezing, or exercising.

Urge incontinence

Urge incontinence is characterized by a sudden, intense urge to urinate, often causing accidental leakage before you reach the bathroom.

Mixed incontinence

This type is a combination of both stress and urge incontinence.

Various factors can lead to incontinence, including pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, certain health conditions, and aging, as the muscles involved in urination and bladder control atrophy. 

Incontinence is not inevitable and many treatments can help prevent it or help you manage it if it develops.

Treatment options for urinary incontinence

Our approach to treating incontinence at Women’s Care of Beverly Hills is comprehensive and takes into account your unique needs. One or more of the following treatment options may be recommended:

Lifestyle changes and bladder training

Lifestyle changes such as reducing caffeine intake, regular pelvic floor exercises, and a bladder training schedule can often improve bladder control. We offer referrals for behavioral therapy to help with bladder training.

Pelvic floor therapy

Strengthening the pelvic muscles through specialized exercises and physical therapy can greatly improve stress incontinence symptoms. Kegel exercises, for example, target these muscles.

Medications

In cases of urge incontinence, we may prescribe medications to help control bladder contractions and reduce symptoms.

Minimally invasive procedures

Some patients may benefit from procedures like urethral bulking injections or nerve stimulation therapy to strengthen bladder control.

Surgical solutions

For severe cases, we may suggest surgical interventions. One effective option is the sling procedure, which provides additional support to the urethra and helps prevent leakage.

The team also provides innovative solutions including:

• Votiva®, which uses radiofrequency energy to promote tissue tightening
• Emsella®, which uses high-intensity focused electromagnetic technology to stimulate the pelvic muscles
• VTone, which uses electrical muscle stimulation to encourage pelvic floor muscle contractions
• Morpheus8V, which combines non-surgical, minimally invasive treatment that combines microneedling with radiofrequency energy to rejuvenate and tighten vaginal tissue

Your OB/GYN makes recommendations on treatment based on the severity and type of incontinence you’re experiencing. 

You can regain control

At Women’s Care of Beverly Hills, we understand the challenges and embarrassment that incontinence can bring. We’re here to help women in South Bay, Redondo Beach, and Beverly Hills, California, find relief through compassionate care and effective treatment.

Schedule an appointment with our team today by calling Women’s Care of Beverly Hills Call or through the online tool.