Michigan Women's Health and Michigan OBGYN | Peter Shaman, MD

MICHIGAN WOMEN'S HEALTH

Specialized care for special patients. St. Joseph Mercy Oakland offers a wide range of services, from mammography scans to stroke care to OBGYN screening tests, dedicated to improving the health of women in Detroit and throughout Michigan.

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OF THE MEDICAL REPORT

Peter Shaman, MD

St. Joseph Mercy Oakland
OB/GYN

THE FACTS ABOUT BLADDER PROBLEMS

Background

According to the National Women’s Health Information Center (NWHIC), more than 13 million Americans have Urinary Incontinence (UI). Twice as many women as men develop this condition. UI is frustrating and embarrassing, and can prevent individuals from enjoying life.

Podcast Posted: 8/10/2007
Duration: 00:55

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“UI is the inability to hold your urine long enough to get to a bathroom,” says Peter Shaman, MD and SJMO OB/GYN. “It occurs when there is a breakdown in the complex system of muscles and nerves involved in urination.”

According to the NWHIC, this breakdown can result from conditions such as multiple sclerosis, strokes, and injury. Sometimes an infection or certain medicines can trigger temporary UI. And for women past menopause, UI can happen when a lack of estrogen causes muscles involved in bladder control to weaken.

TYPES OF URINARY INCONTINENCE
UI in women is one of the following types:

Stress Incontinence:
Stress incontinence is leaking small amounts of urine during movements – such as coughing or sneezing.

Urge Incontinence:
Urge incontinence, or overactive bladder, is leaking large amounts of urine at unexpected times – including during sleep.

Mixed Incontinence:
Mixed incontinence is a combination of the two.

TREATMENTS
The good news is that all types of UI can be treated. There are a number of steps women can take to ease the problem, including: weight loss, avoiding alcohol, and limiting caffeine consumption. If these methods don’t work, physicians usually recommend:

Pelvic Exercises:
Kegel exercises can strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.

Bladder Training:
This is a process in which individuals gradually lengthen the time between urination, thus training the bladder to hold more urine.

Medication:
Prescription drugs can help tighten and regulate muscles and calm an overactive bladder.

REFERRAL
Please call the SJMO physician referral line at 800.372.6094 to find an SJMO OB/GYN near you.

THE MEDICAL REPORT LIBRARY:

MICHIGAN WOMEN'S HEALTH

	HPV Vaccine Willam Jewell, MD Posted: 5/30/2008
	Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy (LSH ) Adam Ziff, DO Posted: 5/16/2008
	Bladder Problems Peter Shaman, MD Posted: 8/10/2007
	Heavy Bleeding Jonathan Zaidan, MD Posted: 8/10/2007
	Healthy Pregnancy Arlene Marcy, MD Posted: 8/10/2007
	Mammography Amy Kirby, MD Posted: 8/10/2007

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