Treatments for Incontinence
Treatment method depends on what is causing your incontinence. You may be given antibiotics to clear up an infection that is causing transient incontinence. Incontinence may be reduced by restricting certain liquids, such as coffee, tea, and alcohol, although this is not a cure. Other treatments include:
| Exercises | Your doctor may teach you how to do Kegel exercises. These are simple exercises that women of any age can do to strengthen the muscles of the pelvis floor. These Kegel exercises benefit stress incontinence. |
| Electrical Stimulation | The muscles around the bladder and urethra are given brief doses of electrical stimulation to strengthen them. This benefits cases of stress and urge incontinence. |
| Timed Voiding (Bladder Training) | With timed voiding, you keep a chart of when you urinate. You then learn to plan to urinate during the times you would otherwise leak. You can "train" your bladder's schedule when to empty. This benefits cases of urge and overflow incontinence. |
| Medications | For urge incontinence, drugs may be given to control the bladder contractions. |
| Pessaries | If you have stress incontinence, a pessary may benefit you. The doctor inserts a stiff ring into the vagina that presses against the urethra. This leads to less stress leakage. |
| Implants | Collagen and fat implants have been injected around the urethra to help close it, improving stress incontinence. These injections are not permanent and must be repeated as the body eliminates the substances. |
| Surgery | Surgical procedures have been very successful in treating incontinence. |
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