Urinary Incontinence

What is urinary incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is being unable to hold on to urine so that some leaks or flows before you get to a toilet.

Urinary incontinence is a symptom of many conditions. It tends to affect older people more but isn’t a normal part of aging.

If you’re suffering from urinary incontinence, you should talk to our providers at Urologic Surgeons of Arizona. Many effective treatments are now available to deal with urinary incontinence.

What types of urinary incontinence are there?

The several types of urinary incontinence are:

Stress incontinence

Leaking of urine happens when you put pressure on your pelvic floor muscles or the sphincter that keeps your urethra closed. Sneezing, laughing, coughing, or lifting can all cause leaking when you have stress incontinence. Although most common in women, stress incontinence also impacts men, especially after prostate cancer surgery. In fact, nearly one in ten men still suffer from leaking a year after having their prostate removed.

Urge incontinence

This type of incontinence makes you feel like you need to urinate urgently. Very often, you’re unable to hold on until you reach a toilet. Urge incontinence can be due to:

• Bladder infections
• Inflammation
• Stones
• Cancer
• Spinal cord injury
• Stroke
• Enlarged prostate gland (men)

Overflow incontinence

This type of incontinence is a result of your bladder not emptying properly. You suffer a persistent dribbling of urine and a weak flow when you urinate. Causes include:

• Blocked urethra
• Injured bladder
• Prostate gland problems
• Certain medications
• Diabetic nerve damage

You can suffer from mixed incontinence, a combination of two or more forms of incontinence. Some people suffer from functional incontinence due to being unable to plan bathroom visits because of conditions like dementia or physical disabilities that make it hard to reach the bathroom in time.

How is urinary incontinence treated?

The treatment that our providers recommend will depend on the cause of your incontinence. In many cases, treating the underlying cause cures the urinary incontinence.

You might benefit from making changes in your daily habits like quitting alcohol and caffeine. Other approaches like bladder training and Kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor can be very helpful.

Physical therapy and clinical electrical stimulation can be effective for some patients. Medications like muscle relaxants for an overactive bladder are available too. There’s also a variety of collection devices and catheters available for chronic urinary incontinence.

Do I need surgery for urinary incontinence?

Surgery is a great option for men who have moderate to severe urinary leakage that is not helped by conservative treatments. Our providers will thoroughly evaluate you and may choose to place an Artificial Urinary Sphincter or male sling.  

Artificial Urinary Sphincter

The Artificial Urinary Sphincter, also known as an AUS, has been implanted in over 200,000 men across the world. 90% of patients are satisfied with the AUS and 96% of men would recommend it to a friend.  The AUS is a device that our providers place surgically in an outpatient procedure.  It has three parts: a cuff that goes around your urethra, a pump in your scrotum and a small reservoir placed in your abdominal area.  The cuff is filled with saline which constricts the urethra and keeps urine from leaking out.  When you are ready to urinate, squeeze and release the pump several times.  This pushes the saline out of the cuff, allowing it to open and urine to flow out of the bladder. The cuff automatically refills within a few minutes.

Male Sling

A male sling acts like a hammock and is designed to stop leakage by lifting and supporting the weakened sphincter muscle. A male sling is a small strip of soft mesh that gently adjusts  the sphincter into its natural position to minimize the flow of unwanted urinary leakage.  Our providers will implant the sphincter in an outpatient surgical procedure.

Women might get relief from urinary incontinence by having injections of bulking agents that build up the tissues around the urethra. 

More invasive treatments include retropubic colposuspension, a surgery that lifts and supports tissues near the bladder. Sling procedures also support the urethra.

Don’t suffer in silence if you have urinary incontinence. Call Urologic Surgeons of Arizona today or book an appointment online.