Women who suffer from stress or urge incontinence are often counseled to try non-surgical means to control their incontinence. These measures may include dietary changes, such as limiting the amount of caffeine, alcohol and carbonated beverages, as well as acidic or spicy foods. Bladder retraining may improve incontinence for some women. Bladder retraining is a method in which you first study voiding habits, then try to gradually lengthen the time between voids until you can comfortably hold your urine for several hours. Targeted exercises, known as Kegel exercises, help to strengthen weak pelvic floor muscles.

When these measures are unsuccessful in alleviating incontinence, your physician may suggest that you take a medication targeted towards treating your specific problem. Before prescribing a medication, your physician will want to gather information about your problem, what measures you have tried, and whether or not these measures were successful. Keeping a diary of fluid intake and episodes of incontinence will help your physician diagnose your problem accurately. A full history and physical, as well as urine and blood tests, may be required.

If medication therapy fails, surgical intervention may be warranted. Surgery is usually a last resort in treating incontinence, but there are several procedures that can alleviate both stress and urge incontinence. They range from simple outpatient procedures requiring only a local anaesthetic to more complex surgeries requiring a hospital stay. If you are considering surgery, it is important to know the pros and cons of the surgical procedure before you consent to having it done. To learn more about surgical treatments for the treatment of urinary incontinence in women, click here.