WOMEN’S BODIES: URINARY INCONTINENCE

Posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 8:46 am

Many women suffer silently and unnecessarily from urinary incontinence, which affects about 5-6 per cent of Australians – over 800 000 of us. Women are eight times more likely to be affected than men. Also, many more people experience occasional ‘accidents’ with involuntary loss of small amounts of urine. A recent survey in Sydney found that 54 per cent of women had experienced loss of bladder control at some time during their adult lives, so if incontinence has ever troubled you, you’re not alone.

Loss of bladder control is a humiliating experience. The possibility of unpredictable, embarrassing accidents can have a profound effect on confidence and self-esteem, and may lead to depression, anxiety, social withdrawal and isolation. Many sufferers are too ashamed and embarrassed to talk about their problem, even to their doctors.

There is good news for all women who suffer from loss of bladder control. In the past two decades there’s been great progress in the understanding of incontinence and in the refinement of tests to identify precisely how and why bladder control becomes disturbed. The new knowledge and understanding have paved the way for more successful treatment. Special incontinence clinics now achieve a success rate of 70 per cent without surgery, and more than 90 per cent with surgery.

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