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Urinary Incontinence
The Effects, Treatment and Causes of Overactive Bladder
By Donna Smith
But the first step is seeing your doctor. "I really want to emphasize that incontinence is something you don't have to live with," Dr. Siddiqui says. "My patients tell me that their only regret is that they didn't see a doctor sooner."
Houston-area resident Kathleen Graf was resigned to putting up with the extra trips to the restroom. "My bladder would start coming down, and it's hard to be ladylike when you have to go to the bathroom and push it back up," says Graf, 74. "I kept saying I could live with this. My doctor finally told me, 'But you don't have to.'"
Urologists and urogynecologists have an array of treatments, including a new type of surgical "sling" and new medications, to help women who are suffering from urinary incontinence.
"Urinary incontinence can cause social isolation and depression, and no woman needs to suffer though it because we have great options both surgically and medically to offer to patients," Dr. Siddiqui says.