Stress Incontinence Treatment in Gurgaon

Stress incontinence is associated with excessive stress on your urinary bladder which causes a little amount of urine to leak through the bladder and pass to the urinary tract without your control over it. It is about the physical stress on your bladder and the word ‘stress’ here has nothing to do with psychological stress. It is common when a person sneezes, coughs or lift heavy weights as all these put pressure on the abdomen and thus on the bladder.  

Stress incontinence is more dominant in women than in men, especially if the woman is an aged one or has been pregnant and given birth to children. It has been observed that people with this problem become introverted and prefer not to socialize or go out often since stress incontinence causes embarrassment. But with proper physiotherapy treatment for stress incontinence in Gurgaon can control and go back to normal life after some time.

Causes of Stress Incontinence

The urinary stress incontinence happens due to the weakening of the muscles and the tissues which supports the urinary bladder or the pelvic floor muscles. The urinary sphincter weakens which controls the urine release and thus due to pressure on your abdomen, the urine leaks.

Stress incontinence happens due to sneezing or coughing because of this weakening of the muscles which are alike the valves that carry the urine and the small tubes which carry the urine out of the body. These tubes are closely fitted to the bladder and when the bladder exaggerates with urine in it, these muscles in the urethra cannot control its leakage when sudden pressure falls on it. In normal condition, these muscles only release the urine when you reach the bathroom but when they weaken they cannot control the activity.

There are two other causes of the problem which are gender specific –

1. Prostate Operation: Though stress incontinence is not that common in men but they can be a problem in men who have gone through prostate surgeries. Prostate surgeries done to remove the prostate gland for prevention or treating prostate cancer can lead to stress incontinence in men. The sphincter is placed right under this gland and circles the urethra and thus when the person’s prostate is removed direct pressure falls on the sphincter causing leakage of urine through the bladder.

• Pregnancy in Women: During the delivery of babies, the sphincter or the pelvic muscle’s tissues and cells, nerve endings can be damaged. This reduces the strength of these muscles and tissues which leads to incontinence in many cases. The incontinence if has to happen might happen soon after the delivery or years after it.

Symptoms of Stress Incontinence

The main symptoms of this problem are leaking of urine while coughing, laughing, sneezing, copulating, even while getting out of a car or standing up after a long time. While exercising, incontinence can be common, especially when doing certain exercises, which puts pressure on your abdomen.

Risks Factors

• If you are obese or overweight, there is a high chance of having this problem.
• Smoking can be a catalyst in this problem.
• The illness can increase when you have acute coughing issues.
• If you are associated with some kind of physical work especially sports like running, long jumps etc. you might develop this problem.
• Age also plays an important role in the development of incontinence due to stress on the muscles as muscles weaken with aging.
• If you had a vaginal or normal delivery of a child, there is a high chance of having this issue in future or soon after the birth of the baby.
• Any kind of pelvic surgery can increase the chance of stress incontinence. 
• A major problem can occur when stress and urge incontinence happens at the same time. This is when you lose all your control of the muscles in the urinary bladder and they become involuntary and thus leaks urine even when little stress or urge is there.
• If the condition is severe and your skin gets in touch with the urine continuously, there can be skin infection as well.

Diagnosis

The problem can take a toll on the patient’s social life as they feel embarrassed due to this problem and slowly cut off from the social arena.

The stress incontinence can be diagnosed with checking the medical history of the patient along with a physical examination of the abdomen and genitals. Abnormalities in urine like blood or other substance can be traced with pathological tests. The doctor will do certain neurological tests to understand issues connected to pelvic nerves. Finally, the doctor can recommend a urine stress test where loss of urine will be monitored when you sneeze or a cough or after having a beer.

Treatments for Stress Incontinence

There are many physiotherapy treatments available for treating this condition but the most important one is Pelvic floor muscles exercises and Pelvic floor Muscle Stimulation therapy. It is also known as Kegel exercises which are done to improve the strength of the pelvic muscles. A physiotherapist can help you in learning this exercise and with time, you will be able to control the problem. Along with this exercise, medications can be added if the condition is severe. In extreme cases, surgery might have to be conducted.