Urinary incontinence is a disease that causes anxiety and annoys many women and it is usually embarrassing for women suffering from it. The patient tends to keep this problem away from her friends and relatives.
This problem is very common in all societies and countries and only a small number of cases show up in doctors clinics. Most keep it away from doctors because they think there is no serious solution to it.
But nowadays it is possible to solve the problem completely and, in other cases, it is possible to help patients overcome their problem and lead a normal life.
What is urinary incontinence?
It is leakage of urine that occurs and is not controllable. This leads to hygiene problems. It is also the leakage of urine in an inappropriate time or place.
Who are the most people affected by incontinence?
Some think that incontinence affects the elderly and children only but the truth is that incontinence can affect any person in any age.
What are the different types of incontinence?
1. Stress incontinence
2. Urge incontinence
3. Continuous incontinence
4. Incontinence that is a result of a disease in the nervous system
Diagnosis for these diseases are based on two major elements after the medical history, which is, examining the patient and performing x-ray and laboratory tests. The medical history of the patient is taken from the beginning; x-ray examinations include bladder dynamics and activity. This examination shows the imbalance in the bladder's muscular activity.
How do you find a suitable solution?
First: When thinking of a suitable solution, there is a need for a thorough examination because the solution varies according to the type of incontinence that the patient suffers from. Incontinence could be caused by a nervous disease (brain - spinal). In this case, the nervous disease should be treated. For example brain attack, seizure or diabetes that affects the bladder nerves and the urethra in the urinary tract.
Second: Continuous incontinence is a result of complications during childbirth or during gynecological surgery that was unsuccessful. This causes an abnormal connection between the cervix and the urethra and it requires surgical treatment for the correction of this abnormal condition.
Third: Urinary urge incontinence is when the patient has an urge to void and it recurs many times within the hour and in even shorter periods and a leakage of urine occurs if the patient does not void, and the voiding is usually during night and morning. Voiding increases with the feeling of anxiety and stress. This kind of incontinence is treated with medication and training of the patient and the bladder using a void organizing device.
Fourth: Urinary stress incontinence that occurs during coughing, laughing, sneezing, exercising or any other physical activity that a woman performs, which increases pressure to the abdomen and results in incontinence.
This kind of incontinence usually affects women at an early age 35+ . It is a result of the weakness of the pelvic floor muscles which support the bladder and urethra ( the urinary tract coming out of the bladder) and with several vaginal deliveries, obesity, asthma and taking female hormones increases the weakness of the muscles which results in an inability to control voiding. This type of incontinence is corrected by a simple procedure that is performed under the urethra by a T.V.T, a tape that is made with materials used in surgical threads that the body accepts. This tape is positioned under the urethra and passes by the edges of the bladder walls till it reaches the abdominal wall and lifts the urinary tract causing it to close when it is under pressure caused by coughing and laughing, thus stopping the leakage of urine.
What makes this procedure different from other procedures used in the past to correct incontinence is that it can be performed under local anesthesia and is vaginal. The patient can leave the same day or the next day and she can resume her physical activities without pain. The success rate is over 95% in comparison to previous procedures that were performed under general anesthesia and by cutting open the abdomen which forced patients to stay in hospital for 10 days and the success rate does not exceed 70% for such treatments.
Many studies were conducted for this disease like Dr. Diya Esam Rizq, Associate Professor and OB/GYN consultant in the Emirates University and OB/GYN consultant in the Touaam and Ain. The studies showed that childbirth rate in Emirates is very high. Therefore, incontinence is expected to be very high.
There were over 150,000 procedures of this kind performed in women around the world during the last few years because this type of incontinence is common among women at an early age.
From what was mentioned previously, there are many causes and types of incontinence in women, which requires many methods and ways to solve this problem. The developments in diagnosis and the curing of this problem has made this annoying problem a problem in the past which resulted in a better life for women and a better psychological state.
This procedure is performed at the Baraha Hospital, the American hospital in Dubai, Al Mafraq Hospital, Al Nour hospital in Abu Dhabi in the gynecology or Urology department with a success rate of 95%.
At the end, I would like to advise every woman that she should not be ashamed of talking to a doctor openly so the doctor could give her the help she needs.
