Urology | PRP for Urinary Incontinence
Urinary Incontinence In A Nutshell
- Urinary Incontinence (UI) is very common in women of all ages.
- All types of urinary incontinence is manageable at any age.
- PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma offers a natural, safe and viable management option for Urinary Incontinence in many women.
- Ask for help if you have urinary incontinence, there is absolutely no need to be embarrassed!
Overview
Involuntary loss of urine or Urinary Incontinence is a very common condition and affects millions of women of all ages. Urinary Incontinence is twice as common in women as men.
Pregnancy and vaginal birth, menopause, and the structure of the female urinary tract account for the increase in incidence of Urinary Incontinence in women. Nerve/spinal cord injury, birth defects, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and age related physical decline can lead to urinary incontinence in both men and women.
Urinary Incontinence can interfere with your self esteem your social life. Involuntary urine loss during intercourse can lead to significant emotional distress and sexual dysfunction including loss of libido and anorgasmia.
Types of Urinary Incontinence
There are several types of Urinary Incontinence and each type can be managed with a combination of treatments:
- Stress Incontinence: Involuntary leakage of small amounts of urine with any activity that increases pressure on bladder e.g coughing, sneezing, jumping etc.
- Urge Incontinence: Involuntary leakage of large amounts of urine at rest with no precipitating activity e.g while resting comfortably or even during sleep.
- Mixed Incontinence: This usually includes symptoms of stress and urge incontinence together.
- Overflow Incontinence: Inability to hold urine in a full bladder leading to involuntary leakage of small amounts of urine
- Overactive Bladder: Frequent and urgent desire to urinate, may be associated with urge incontinence.
- Functional Incontinence: Urinary leakage and inability to hold urine due to physical disability or communication difficulty that prevents reaching the toilet.
- Transient Incontinence: Temporary involuntary urinary leakage due to any concurrent illness such as coughing, bladder infection, side effects of a new medication etc.
Evaluation Of Your Urinary incontinence
You urinary incontinence evaluation starts with a thorough history of your urinary symptoms and your overall health and other medical conditions. A pelvic exam and an in office test called “bladder stress test’ may be done by your doctor as part of your initial evaluation.
The bladder stress test consists of observation for urinary leakage with coughing. Additional tests that may be recommended by your gynecologist or urogynecologist to further evaluate your incontinence. Not everyone needs additional testing.
Treatment Of urinary Incontinence
Several modalities are used to manage urinary incontinence and I have found that a combination of treatment modalities yield the best results with the least side effects. The traditional treatment methods for urinary incontinence in women are:
- Behavioral Remedies: Bladder Retraining
- Strengthening The Pelvic Muscles: Kegel Exercises and TENS unit
- Medicines for Overactive Bladder: A class of medications called anticholinergics are frequently prescribed for overactive bladder. The most common side effects are: dry mouth, constipation and drowsiness but at larger doses they may cause blurred vision, a faster heartbeat, and flushing and confusion Prolonged uses has been associated with memory loss and dementia.
- Vaginal Devices for Stress Incontinence: Like a pessary can lead to increased incidence of recurrent vaginal infections
- Injections for Stress Incontinence: A variety of bulking agents, such as collagen and carbon spheres, have been used for injection near the urinary sphincter to increase tissue thickness and to close the bladder opening which reduces stress incontinence.
- Surgery for Stress Incontinence: There are three types of Surgery for supporting the bladder back to its normal position; retropubic suspension and two types of sling procedures. Each surgery has its own pros and cons.
PRP- Platelet Rich Plasma For Urinary Incontinence
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is a regenerative treatment and has been used extensively to manage degenerative arthritis and acute injury in orthopedic medicine for over a decade with excellent results.
PRP can be very effective in improving Urinary Incontinence via regeneration of your own healthy tissue to reverse some of the changes that lead to urinary incontinence. PRP treatment is a simple, relatively painless procedure.
The entire treatment takes less than an hour in our Dallas office.
The PRP contains several growth factors; platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor (TGF), platelet factor interleukin (IL), platelet-derived angiogenesis factor (PDAF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), insulin-like growth factor IGF and fibronectin.
These growth factors are released upon activation of platelets and lead to rejuvenation of the muscles,nerves, blood vessels in the distal female genitourinary tract; the clitoral- urethral- bladder-vaginal interface.
The patients treated with PRP and vaginal muscle training exercises experience reduction in Urinary Incontinence, improvement and strengthening of orgasmic activity, improvement in sensation of clitoris and reduction of pain during intercourse.
In our practice we utilize a combination of behavioral remedies, pelvic muscle strengthening and PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injection treatment for management of Urinary Incontinence, vaginal rejuvenation and improvement of sexual decline.
PRP for Urinary Incontinence is not for everyone. It is best to consult with your doctor to determine which treatment is most suitable for your Urinary Incontinence.
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This page was written by Naila Malik MD of Dallas Cosmetic PRP.
Dr. Malik offers PRP for skin care, hair loss and urology in the Dallas / Southlake, Texas area. You can read more about her here or visit her clinic website here. |
