Incontinence, or the involuntary loss of bladder control, can be an embarrassing problem that can severely hinder your day-to-day life. Something as simple as laughing or sneezing can cause urinary leakage, often causing the afflicted to avoid social situations and isolate themselves.
Mainly women are affected by urinary incontinence, which can come with age or childbirth both of which cause a weak pelvic floor. As many women are too embarrassed to discuss this, they often do not get the treatment they need. However, there are options!
In this Woman’s World article, Dr. Levine discusses a non-invasive therapy she uses to help address incontinence and overall core strength, the Core-to-Floor protocol.
Types Of Urinary Incontinence
There are many types of urinary incontinence, including:
- Stress incontinence – this happens when your bladder is under pressure, and urine leaks out. For example, when you sneeze or laugh.
- Urge incontinence – when you feel an intense, sudden urge to pee and urine leaks or soon afterward.
- Overflow incontinence (chronic urinary retention) – frequent leaking caused by the inability to fully empty your bladder.
- Total incontinence – this is the constant passing of urine or frequent leaking due to the inability of your bladder to store urine.
It is likely to have a combination of both stress and urge-related urinary incontinence.
Temporary Urinary Incontinence
Specific food, medication, and drinks may act as diuretics – stimulates your bladder and increasing your portion of urine. They include:
- Caffeine
- Artificial sweeteners
- Sparkling water and carbonated drinks
- Alcohol
- Chocolate
- Food that contains a high amount of spice, sugar, or acid
- Chili peppers
- Heart and blood pressure medications, muscle relaxants, and sedatives.
- Large doses of vitamin C
Treatment Of Urinary Incontinence
There are various ways to address incontinence and with today’s advances in technology, it can often be done without surgery!
Non-surgical treatment
- Kegels: Pelvic floor exercises which strengthen your pelvic floor muscles by squeezing them for 3-5 seconds and then releasing.
- Core-to-Floor: Imagine doing 11,000 kegels in 28 minutes just by sitting on a chair, fully-clothed! That’s what EMSELLA, a non-invasive pelvic floor strengthening, does for you. In the Core-to-Floor protocol, 6 sessions of EMSELLA are combined with 4 – 6 sessions of EMSCULPT NEO which addresses your abdominal muscles, strengthening your whole core. The best part? Both are completely non-invasive treatments with zero downtime!
Surgical treatment
Surgical procedures may also be considered in some cases, but non-surgical options should be explored first.
The sling procedure is a surgical treatment for stress incontinence. This procedure reduces pressure on the bladder and strengthens urine control muscles.
Urge incontinence surgical treatment includes the implantation of a device that stimulates the detrusor muscles to control nerve and bladder enlargement.
If incontinence is hindering your life, it’s time to explore Core-to-Floor therapy. Call 212-517-9400 to schedule your appointment today.