continence
At Women’s Health Plus, we specialise in helping women with a variety of continence issues. Our team is passionate about providing support for women of all ages who have problems with urinary and faecal continence, and can offer patients a range of solutions, education and advice.
Urinary incontinence is the medical term for loss of bladder control. It manifests in the involuntary loss of urine from the bladder, or leakage of urine from the bladder without being able to control it.
There are different types of female incontinence and bladder problems, such as:
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Stress incontinence — when urinary leakage is caused by coughing, laughing or sneezing
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Overflow incontinence — when you suffer a constant flow or dribbling of urine, or when your bladder never feels that it is completely empty
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Urge incontinence — when you experience a sudden urge to urinate and have little time to get to a toilet
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Urinary frequency — the feeling of needing to empty your bladder more often than normal
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Overactive bladder — a combination of both urinary urge and frequency
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Interstitial cystitis — a chronic painful bladder condition
Female incontinence is a very common problem, with 1 in 3 women who have had a baby developing incontinence. There are also a number of other underlying causes. It can be the result of urinary tract infection (UTI), be a consequence of ageing and changes to hormone levels, or it could be a result of taking medication. Some surgical procedures, such as a hysterectomy or a prolapse repair, can also sometimes cause continence issues for women.
Some women experience voiding difficulty after childbirth or surgery. This is because anaesthetics and analgesics can block the messages from the bladder to the voiding centres in the brain which are responsible for the sensation of filling and the contraction to empty the bladder. In addition, during childbirth the nerves that pass through your pelvic floor and communicate information from your bladder to your brain voiding centres can become stretched. The awareness of filling and the contraction to empty can be impaired.
If you are experiencing any issues connected to continence, our doctors and specialists will work with you to find an appropriate and workable solution. This can include sophisticated investigation with Urodynamic testing, and a number of treatment options like the Neotonus Chair therapy, Laser Therapy, pelvic floor education, advice on behaviour modifications and, in some instances, intermittent self catheterisation (ISC).
Where appropriate, the doctor will assist you to access appropriate funding and product selection. For regional patients, we offer support options to meet your needs and patient assisted transport funding can be arranged if necessary.
If the more conservative approaches mentioned above fail then our expert specialists can perform a variety of surgical procedures to treat incontinence.
Find out more about our treatment and therapy for:
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Urinary incontinence, including stress and urgency incontinence, and sensory urgency
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Voiding difficulty and incomplete bladder emptying
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Managing incontinence
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Recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI)
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Bladder retraining and urgency/frequency issues
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Bladder scans to assess emptying
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Catheter management and intermittent self catheterisation (ISC)
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Issues with constipation, and bowel emptying/defecation
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Pelvic floor rehabilitation, including pelvic floor muscle exercise programs, Neotonus Chair therapy, and home EMG and biofeedback training.
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