Urinary incontinence occurs when a person passes urine involuntarily, and can be permanent or temporary, depending on its cause. The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center says that of the over 25 million Americans suffering from this condition, 85 percent are women, and that only one in 12 sufferers seeks medical help. Lifestyle changes and/or medical treatment can cure or ease the discomfort of urinary incontinence, and the condition can also be treated with surgery.
Fluid and Diet Modifications
Women who have urinary incontinence can adopt several habits that can alleviate their condition, including avoiding alcoholic drinks and acidic foods like citrus fruits and juices that can irritate the bladder, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Eliminating medications that cause urinary incontinence with the help of a physician, and reducing fluid intake before bedtime, can also address this problem.
Kegel Exercises
Women may develop urinary incontinence due to pregnancy and childbirth, which weaken the pelvic muscles. Kegel exercises help to strengthen these muscles and the urinary sphincter, or the muscle that controls the release of urine. To do a kegel exercise, a woman stops urine flow intermittently. She can also squeeze and hold the muscles used to stop urination for about 3 seconds, relax the muscles and then repeat the action.
Medications
Medications used to treat urinary incontinence include anticholinergics, imipramine and topical estrogen. Drugs like oxybutynin, tolterodine, darifenacin, solifenacin and trospium are all anticholinergic medications that calm overactive bladders that cause frequent urges to urinate. Topical estrogen may help ease symptoms of incontinence by rejuvenating tissues in the vaginal and bladder areas. Imipramine is an antidepressant drug that is used to treat mixed incontinence--a condition characterized by two different types of incontinence occurring simultaneously, such as stress and urge incontinence.
Surgery
There are several surgical procedures that can treat urinary incontinence in women--some are done vaginally and others through abdominal incisions. Surgery is often used to remove obstructions, lift up or change the position of the bladder, add support to weakened pelvic muscles or replace a urinary sphincter. One such surgery is the pubovaginal fascial sling, where a strong tendon-like material is attached around the neck of the bladder to prevent urine leakage. This type of surgery requires vaginal and abdominal incisions.
