Springing a leak
If coughing, sneezing, laughing or jumping makes you lose a few drops of urine, you’re definitely not alone! A significant number of women experience urine leakage with activity.
But many suffer in silence because they are too embarrassed to seek help, instead protecting their dignity by wearing absorbent pads every single day.
It doesn’t have to be that way though, so don’t ignore the problem.
Urine is normally prevented from leaking by the urinary sphincter – a tight ring of muscle at the neck of the bladder – and by the support of the muscles of the pelvic floor. If these muscles weaken, urine can leak during moments of physical stress, like lifting, coughing, sneezing or laughing. Common causes of the weak sphincter and pelvic floor muscles include ageing and childbirth.
As we age, our elastin and collagen production diminishes. Both collagen and elastin add strength to muscles. Muscles get weaker with age, and the pelvic floor muscle is among those affected.
Pregnancy and vaginal delivery can also cause the condition. A long, hard or very fast delivery can overstretch and tear the pelvic floor muscles and surrounding tissue, resulting in a loose vagina with weakened muscles.
In order to help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, a self-care technique that squeezes the vagina muscles – aka Kegel exercises – is recommended. However, Kegel exercises |take a very long time and require a lot of dedication to see improvement.
Fortunately, there is now a non-invasive option that uses unipolar radiofrequency technology to treat bladder leakage. A deep tissue tightening technology used by dermatologists for saggy skin, the device delivers radiofrequency energy to the vaginal area, which results in a temperature increase in the target tissue, causing an immediate contraction of collagen and |long-term collagen remodelling. This improves pelvic floor |muscular strength and tightening, resulting in the reduction of a leaky bladder.
According to Dr Red Alinsod’s clinical study, all patients reported improvement. Before treatment, these patients would be using up to five pads each day. After treatment, most patients no longer required pads and the leakage was gone.
Bladder surgery requires significant recovery time and can lead to complications. Now, a non-surgical radiofrequency technology is giving women the opportunity to get their confidence back.
Take control!
THANISORN THAMLIKITKUL MD is a member of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery and certified in dermatological laser surgery. Send your questions |for her to [email protected]
