Before resorting to a trip to the operating room, the staff at Bangor Women's Healthcare Aesthetics & Gynecology is committed to helping you try and find a successful solution to your urinary incontinence before surgery.
KEGEL EXERCISES
Exercising your pelvic floor muscles regularly can help prevent bladder leakage.
How to do Kegel exercises:
- It may be easier to begin practicing these exercises while lying down.
- Squeeze the muscles in your genital area as if you were trying to stop the flow of urine or trying to stop from passing gas. Try not to squeeze the muscles in your belly or legs at the same time.
- Relax. Squeeze the muscles again and hold for 3 seconds. Then relax for 3 seconds. Do this 8 more times. Work up to 5 sets of 10.
- When your muscles get stronger, do your exercises sitting or standing. You can do these exercises any time, while sitting at your desk, in the car, waiting in line, doing the dishes, etc.
Be patient. It may take 3 to 6 weeks before you see results.
If you're not sure you're doing Kegel exercises right, ask Dr. Grover to check you while you try to do them. If you aren't squeezing the right muscles, he can teach you the right way to do the exercises.
BIOFEEDBACK
In addition to bladder control exercises such as Kegel exercises, Dr. Grover may recommend biofeedback to train you to control the muscles that control your urethra. Our medical assistants, trained in biofeedback, place an electrical patch over your abdomen, and a tampon-shaped sensor is inserted into the vagina. A wire connected to the patch is linked to a TV screen. You and she watch the screen to see when these muscles contract, so you can learn to control them. Biofeedback can be used with pelvic muscle exercises and electrical stimulation to help control stress incontinence and urge incontinence.
ELECTRICAL STIMULATION
Another form of therapy done with a vaginal sensor is called electrical stimulation, or E-Stim. The sensors deliver mild electrical impulses to the muscles surrounding the urethra. This is, essentially, a passive Kegel exercise as the sensor does the muscle contraction for you.
PESSARY
A pessary is a small device that fits in your vagina and helps hold it up. A pessary can help reduce leakage. Dr. Grover will decide which type and size of pessary is right for you and will check the pessary regularly.
BLADDER RETRAINING
Bladder retraining is effective in helping people successfully increase the amount of time between trips to the bathroom. We may have trained ourselves to visit the bathroom more frequently than actually needed, and inadvertently 'train' our bladder that it needs to be emptied too often. If Dr. Grover suggests bladder retaining, a bladder diary, as well as a schedule of activities that normally make up your day, will be important in developing a successful program for you.
DIETARY CHANGES
Some foods and drinks can cause incontinence, such as caffeine (found in coffee, some sodas, and chocolate), tea, and alcohol. Limiting these foods and drinks can reduce incontinence.
MEDICATIONS
Some medications can reduce some types of leakage. Talk to Dr. Grover to see if medication is right for you.
