Overactive bladder, leakage and incontinence can start at any age, but as progressive conditions, they will worsen with time. Well-meaning tips for “stopping leaks” can provide advice to potentially slow down that progression, but by the time most people are needing real help, the first-line therapies and even the very best tips simply aren’t enough.
The good news is that treatments to resolve overactive bladder, bladder leakage and bowel leakage have never been better, simpler, safer, and as non-invasive.
Identifying Incontinence Issues
Severe overactive bladder can mean not getting any sleep at night, having to wear diapers, pads, liners, and living life around the bathroom. Bladder and bowel leakage can curtail a person’s social life and diminish important interactions with family, friends, and loved ones. All too often people are told they must just live with the problem and buy diapers, when in fact there are excellent solutions available.
First-line therapies involve pelvic floor exercise therapies that restore strength and some coordination to the sphincters of the bladder and bowel as well as the overall pelvic floor. Medications, including antidiarrheals, fiber, and specific bladder medicines, play some role especially early in the process and improving symptoms when they are still mild. When the symptoms progress beyond this stage, then it is time to undergo a 15-minute test that will determine whether the symptoms can be restored completely with a nifty technological solution with a 20-year track record of success.
A Simple Test to Determine Whether Incontinence can be Resolved
The test is performed with local anesthetic and x-ray guidance. It’s entirely painless and allows a specialist to see whether the nerves and muscles of the body respond to a very gentle computerized current from a type of tiny pacemaker. After this minor outpatient procedure test, you will try out the system at home a few days with a small pacemaker device taped to the outside of the skin.
If the pacemaking device solves the problem, pads are dry, you are sleeping through the night, and having no accidents, then it means you are an excellent candidate. The next step is placement of the peacemaking device under the skin with a second short, simple, 20-minute outpatient procedure. The procedure, called sacral neuromodulation, involves these two minor procedure steps, each of which is done under local anesthetic, is painless, and delivers over 90% success at resolving overactive bladder, bladder leakage, urinary retention, and bowel leakage.
While sacral neuromodulation is FDA approved and covered by Medicare and all health plans, few specialists have the deep expertise to routinely perform the treatment. But there is sure to be one in your community, so do not let the problem of bladder and bowel leakage progress to the point of buying packs of diapers and changing your social schedule. Help is available, and it is surprisingly easy, non-invasive, covered by insurance, and highly effective.
The team at Nevada Surgical here in northern Nevada is here to answer your questions about incontinence and sacral neuromodulation. Contact us today to learn more.
