Does urinary incontinence keep you from doing the things you really want to do? When you're constantly worried about urine leakage or accidents it's difficult to truly enjoy life. Luckily, an array of effective treatments can control urgency, leaks, and accidents. At Greater Austin Urology, Dr. Lucas Jacomides, provides several treatment options.

What causes urinary incontinence?

Your symptoms may be due to overactive bladder, overflow incontinence or stress urinary incontinence. If you have overactive bladder, your brain decides that you need to empty your bladder even if it's not full, triggering an urgent need to visit the restroom.

Overflow incontinence occurs when you begin to leak urine due to bladder fullness or overproduction of urine. The condition can occur due to weak bladder muscles, nerve damage, a blockage in your urethra, an enlarged prostate gland, or if you've had prostate surgery.

Do you leak urine when you sneeze, laugh, or bend? You may have stress urinary incontinence. The condition is caused by weak pelvic floor muscles and may be more likely to occur if you're obese, have a urinary tract infection or have been pregnant or had a child.

What can I do about urinary incontinence?

We can offer a variety of treatment options when you visit our Austin office. Although treatment depends on the cause of your condition, it may include:

• Bladder training to help you lengthen the time between restroom visits
• Kegel exercises to strengthen weak pelvic floor muscles
• Medications to reduce urges, calm your overactive bladder, make emptying the bladder easier, or relax the bladder, allowing it to hold more urine
• Pessaries, devices inserted into the vagina that supports the bladder and reduce leakage
• Botox injections to treat overactive bladder if other treatment options aren't effective
• Sling surgery to support the bladder and keep the urethra closed when you move if you have stress urinary incontinence
• Other types of surgery to support the urethra and bladder neck or implant a ring around the neck of the bladder to prevent leakage in men

Would you like to finally find relief for your urinary incontinence symptoms? Call Dr. Lucas Jacomides at Greater Austin Urology in Austin, TX at (512) 540-3937 to schedule your appointment.