In the outpatient clinic, we often meet some young postpartum mothers, their biggest problem is that they leak urine when sneezing and coughing, so they fall into a state of low self-esteem or anxiety, which is mostly stress urinary incontinence. Most stress urinary incontinence is caused by loose pelvic floor tissues, mainly related to pregnancy, vaginal birth injury, and postmenopausal estrogen loss.
When urine leakage is severe, there may even be a situation of wetting pants, and you need to determine the location of the toilet before you go. Not only that, when the perineum is moist for a long time, it is also easy to cause urinary tract infection and vaginitis. In fact, urinary incontinence is completely treatable, and many sisters ask us in the outpatient clinic, "Is there a way for the doctor to treat it?" I see a lot of gels and ointments on the Internet, and they say that they can produce immediate results, can you help me prescribe some? ”
Can online ointment treat urinary incontinence, can it be used?
In a certain book, there are often bloggers who share that gels or ointments can treat urine leakage or pelvic floor laxity, and not only improve urine leakage after childbirth, but also make it firmer, but what is the truth?
Clinically, urinary incontinence can indeed be treated with topical estrogen, but vaginal estrogen ointment is more commonly used for stress urinary incontinence in postmenopausal women.
In addition, the so-called "medicines" or "health products" sold on the Internet, not to mention whether they have any effect, the most worrying thing is that their ingredients are often unknown, and there may be side effects that harm the body, sisters must be cautious, and drug treatment must be carried out under the guidance of professional doctors.
What are some "useful" treatments for urinary incontinence?
1. Non-surgical treatment
Lifestyle interventions
Weight loss, especially body mass index (BMI) {weight (kg)/height squared (m²)} greater than 30; reduce the consumption of caffeinated beverages; avoid and reduce activities that increase abdominal pressure; Treats chronic conditions such as constipation and cough with high abdominal pressure.
Bladder training
By urinating at regular intervals, an overfilled bladder is avoided, and urine leakage decreases even when abdominal pressure increases.
Kegel exercises
How? Imagine if you are shopping and you suddenly have a lot of stool, but there is no toilet nearby, what should you do? Quickly tighten the anus, hold it for 3-5 seconds, and then relax for 3-5 seconds, this is the feeling, this process of anal contraction is to exercise the pelvic floor muscles. You need to exercise repeatedly for 15 minutes each time, 1 time in the morning, noon and 1 time in the evening, and you can do it gradually if you can't stick to it. You can do this exercise at any time on your own, lying down, sitting, watching TV, or taking the subway.
Pelvic floor electrical stimulation, biofeedback therapy
A probe is placed in the vagina, and the computer feeds back the strength of the patient's pelvic floor muscle contractions, and instructs the patient on how to exercise the pelvic floor muscles.
Anti-urinary incontinence pessary
Transvaginal insertion, which improves urethral closure by mechanical support and compression of the urethra, can reduce urine leakage when abdominal pressure increases, thereby treating urinary incontinence.
Carbon dioxide fractional laser treatment
By promoting the regeneration of collagen in the vaginal wall tissue, it can achieve the effect of anti-urinary incontinence and tightening the vagina, but the effect varies from person to person.
drug therapy
These include traditional Chinese medicines, α-adrenergic agonists, and topical estrogen.
2. Surgical treatment
At present, the most commonly used is the transpubic/obturator tension-free midurethral sling, which is a transvaginal approach that does not require a hole in the abdominal wall, which is minimally invasive, fast and effective.
When postpartum mothers feel that stress urinary incontinence affects their quality of life, they do not need to feel embarrassed, come to the hospital for treatment, and choose a specific treatment plan according to the doctor's assessment and recommendations.