Incontinence Treatment

Once incontinence is properly evaluated, a treatment plan can be formulated to treat a patient's incontinence. There are a number of different treatments for incontinence. These can range from simple behavioral training exercises, to drugs and surgery. Each treatment plan is tailored to a patient's type of incontinence, personal needs and expectations, and medical condition.

Various treatments available can be classified into four main groups: behavioral therapies, drugs, devices and surgery. Available behavioral therapies include Kegel exercises ( exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor muscles) and biofeedback, a computerized training process that helps a patient become aware and control the muscles involved with urinating. Electrical stimulation and the newest Neotonus Magnetic Chair which emits an magnetic impulse to contract pelvic floor muscles. Drugs include those that treat infections such as antibiotics those that treat bladder spasms such as anticholinergic drugs; those that make tissue healthier in postmenopausal women such as estrogen and many others. Devices of which there are many include pessaries, pads, plugs, clamps and catheters. Surgical treatments can be as simple as a 20 minute office procedure like periurethral needle injection with collagen to bulk up the sphincter muscle area to complex surgical procedures that repair the support of the pelvic floor and bladder base area. The internal replacement of an artificial urinary sphincter to control the outflow of urine is also available for appropriate patients.

It is clear that in 2001, there are a vast range of treatments for all types of incontinence problems from the very simple to the complex. The treatment of incontinence is clearly making breakthroughs as advancing research clarify the problems causing incontinence, and more importantly, how to treat them effectively with the different available therapies.