Barb's Daily Dose

Leaking Urine? You Don't Have to Put Up With it Anymore

Did you know that one out of every four women will experience some form of pelvic health issue - bleeding, urinary incontinence or pelvic pain? This number actually doubles as women age!

Pelvic pain and incontinence frequently are suffered in silence, due to embarrassment. But an entire medical discipline devoted to these conditions is making significant inroads in the treatment of the painful conditions that fall under the topic of "pelvic health." Women can now exchange embarrassment for empowerment.

In this edition of Nurse Barb’s Daily Dose, Barb speaks with the pelvic health experts: Drs. Sari Levine and Katherine Sutherland and physical therapist Meenal Mujumdar. Together, they address some of the misconceptions that keep women from seeking treatment for pelvic pain or incontinence problems and explain the advances in treatments that are worth considering.

Topics Covered Include:

• Conditions that pelvic health treatment address
• Alternatives to surgery
• Incontinence as a symptom
• Specialized physical therapy
• Beyond Kegels, and
• Da Vinci minimally invasive surgery options.

Heavy Periods

"I decided to stay in the shower, because I was bleeding so heavily that it was just easier that way."

Did you know that 1 in 5 women suffer from heavy periods? That's a lot of pads and tampons. Some women have heavy periods their entire lives and some only experience this particularly feminine challenge  
with perimenopause.

Incontinence

"It was the first time that I've slept through the night in over 3 years." so said Nan* (not her real name), a woman who came to see me for help with leaking urine. If Nan went more than 2 hours without going to the bathroom, her bladder would suddenly release all of it's contents the minute she changed her position. That meant that if she was sitting down and stood up suddenly, she'd have an accident.

Kegels are Just the Beginning

Tune in to CBS-5 in San Francisco Tonight at 7:20 pm.  I'll be talking about Pelvic Health.

As I walked into the exam room to see my patient (Alicia* - not her real name) for her annual exam, I could tell by the expression on her face that she was struggling with an issue. After washing my hands and talking about her young kids in preschool and their soccer schedules, she started to open up about a deeply personal and embarrassing issue.  She was very upset about how much she was leaking urine and that sometimes during sex her bladder, her bladder would also release it's contents.  She was alternately angry, frustrated and horrified.  She was in mid thirties and was very active with her kids and her own small business.

Physical Therapy for Pelvic Floor Muscles

Joan couldn't get the key to open the front door fast enough. She was kegeling with every fiber of her being and trying desperately not to wet her pants as she struggled with the front door. She was willing her bladder to calm down so that she could make it to the bathroom in time. This was beginning to become a very troublesome routine. Just as she arrived home from work or an errand, even if her bladder was minimally filling up, she would have a sudden and intense urge to go as soon as she stepped out of the car and fumbled with her keys.

Robotic Surgery: Less Invasive and a Quicker Recovery

Recently I had the opportunity to watch Dr. Katherine Sutherland perform a hysterectomy using Robotic Surgery. This particular patient had very large fibroids that were wreaking havoc in her life and all the other treatments she had tried with other doctors hadn't worked.  She consented to allowing me to observe because as she said, "She wanted more people to know about this remarkable new innovation."  To say that her fibroids were large and "in charge" would be an understatement. They were causing pain and bleeding and she was ready to have them out.

Leaky Bladders! It's No Joke!

My friend, Katie called yesterday. The night before, she was at her monthly Bunco group, and after enjoying an appletini and was sitting in her chair, laughing at a friend's hilarious story about their kids. Suddenly Katie was laughing so hard that she literally pee'd her pants. "I couldn't control it," she blurted, "Luckily, I was wearing dark pants, and it was just a little bit, but that has happened since after I had my 2nd child.  OMG, is this the beginning of the end?