Urinary Incontinence Support Group
Urinary incontinence is the involuntary excretion of urine from one's body. It is often temporary, and it almost always results from an underlying medical condition. Stress, functional, and urge incontinence are the most common forms. Share with other support group members and learn from their stories and experiences.
Hi everyone,
My mom suffers from stress incontinence. It used to be manageable, but she recently gave birth to my baby sister two months ago, and now its a lot worse. Apparently she leaks even from small movements such as standing up.
I've been looking online for different treatment options, but so far I really can't tell which is best. She's already tried kegel exercises, but is afraid to use pessaries because they look uncomfortable and seems like a lot of work to clean and stuff. She saw a urologist who recommended to have a surgical procedure done, the mini sling or transobturator tape, but we're afraid of the complications. I found online that the FDA issued a warning, and there are a lot of sites talking about mesh litigation. My mom is still in her mid-fifties, and is pretty active, so it seems dangerous to put a permanent mesh that looks like a cheese grater in her body.
What do you guys think? Is there a better option out there? Ideally we would like to have a relatively safe procedure that would cure her after one time and then we would never have to worry about it anymore.
My mom suffers from stress incontinence. It used to be manageable, but she recently gave birth to my baby sister two months ago, and now its a lot worse. Apparently she leaks even from small movements such as standing up.
I've been looking online for different treatment options, but so far I really can't tell which is best. She's already tried kegel exercises, but is afraid to use pessaries because they look uncomfortable and seems like a lot of work to clean and stuff. She saw a urologist who recommended to have a surgical procedure done, the mini sling or transobturator tape, but we're afraid of the complications. I found online that the FDA issued a warning, and there are a lot of sites talking about mesh litigation. My mom is still in her mid-fifties, and is pretty active, so it seems dangerous to put a permanent mesh that looks like a cheese grater in her body.
What do you guys think? Is there a better option out there? Ideally we would like to have a relatively safe procedure that would cure her after one time and then we would never have to worry about it anymore.
There is always going to be a risk with any surgery. I've been suggested an artificial sphincter, which I nearly laughed in the urologists face. I am a guy who has been suffering from stress incontinence for about a year and nine months, ever since a cycling accident. I have been doing the pelvic floor exercises ever since(and the success rate for improvement or cure is high) although I probably havent been committed enough. I have seen improvement from coming home and flooding the kitchen floor to now having an better control, but still leaking under stress.
How long has she been suffering if you dont mind me asking? This isnt something that heals over night and will take time and commitment.
Personally I would exhausted all the conservative methods before considering operations.
regards
Chris
There is always going to be a risk with any surgery. I've been suggested an artificial sphincter, which I nearly laughed in the urologists face. I am a guy who has been suffering from stress incontinence for about a year and nine months, ever since a cycling accident. I have been doing the pelvic floor exercises ever since(and the success rate for improvement or cure is high) although I probably havent been committed enough. I have seen improvement from coming home and flooding the kitchen floor to now having an better control, but still leaking under stress.
How long has she been suffering if you dont mind me asking? This isnt something that heals over night and will take time and commitment.
Personally I would exhausted all the conservative methods before considering operations.
regards
Chris
My name is Ariana Gunderson and I work for a market research firm called Kaiser Associates based in Washington, DC. We are looking to better understand unmet stress incontinence treatment needs and would love to get your perspective as a patient. Please feel free to contact me at agunderson@kaiserassociates.com if youd be interested in speaking with us. Wed be happy to offer you an honorarium in exchange for your time. Thanks!