Urinary incontinence is one of those problems that most people try to hide forever. However, urinary incontinence won’t just go away on its own — speaking to a professional like Dr. Andrea Olanescu of Medical Care for Women in Astoria, New York, will help you discover the root cause of your urinary incontinence and regain control of your bladder.
The federal Office on Women’s Health reports that women are twice as likely as men to develop urge and stress incontinence, two of the most common types of urinary incontinence. Factors like childbirth and menopause tend to make urinary incontinence much more common in women.
Childbirth is one of the most common reasons for urinary incontinence in women. Giving birth disrupts and weakens the core and pelvic floor muscles, which leads to limited — or a total loss of — bladder control. Certain exercises can help postpartum women regain control of their bladder.
When women go through menopause, rapidly decreasing hormone levels cause all sorts of problems. If you’ve been through it, you know: hot flashes, sweating, hair loss, weight gain, and more. Urinary incontinence is one other symptom of menopause that not many people talk about.
You might experience temporary urinary incontinence during and after having sex. This is a type of stress incontinence because it occurs owing to increased pressure on your bladder. Stress incontinence often resolves after sex, but you might still have leakage if you find it hard to control your pelvic floor muscles after sex.
As you get older, you might find it harder to control your bladder. This is totally normal — your bladder is a muscle and all muscles weaken as you age unless you do consistent, targeted exercise to prevent the loss of muscle control and strength. Pelvic floor exercises might help control age-related urinary incontinence.
On the flip side, you might experience urinary incontinence owing to bladder muscles that work overtime. If you have an overactive bladder, you probably feel sudden, intense urges to urinate and you might feel this urge many times throughout the day. Overactive bladder muscles can also disrupt sleep.
If you struggle with urge incontinence, stress incontinence, or overactive bladder, you might feel helpless and hopeless. However, you can take steps to regain control of your bladder and enjoy activities you love — you can laugh, play, exercise, have sex, and do everything else care-free!
The first step to resolving urinary incontinence is getting to the root cause. As you can see above, a multitude of scenarios can cause incontinence, and you’ll be able to attack the problem when you know where it starts. Dr. Olanescu offers consultations to help women find the cause of incontinence. From there, she helps you create an individualized treatment plan that may include lifestyle changes and conservative treatments, such as topical estrogen. For some women, vaginal rejuvenation laser therapy (MonaLisa Touch®) helps them return to a normal and happy life.
To learn more about your treatment options for incontinence, contact our office today to schedule an appointment with Dr. Olanescu by calling 718-278-0888. You can also send us a message here on our website, or book an appointment online.
