{"id":11298,"date":"2024-06-06T09:41:17","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T09:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=11298"},"modified":"2024-06-24T16:02:53","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T16:02:53","slug":"how-incontinence-treatment-options-can-improve-lives-of-patients-at-any-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/mens-healthcare\/how-incontinence-treatment-options-can-improve-lives-of-patients-at-any-age\/","title":{"rendered":"How incontinence treatment options can improve lives of patients at any age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"303\" height=\"304\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-11315\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/06\/07205823\/1678991546777.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/06\/07205823\/1678991546777.jpg 303w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/06\/07205823\/1678991546777-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 303px) 100vw, 303px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Chris Harding<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Consultant Urological Surgeon, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, <br\/>and Professor of Urology, Newcastle University<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Various treatments are available for urinary incontinence. If you have symptoms, don\u2019t put off seeing your GP because treatment could make a big difference to your quality of life.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>According to NHS England, approximately 14 million people in the UK have some degree of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">urinary incontinence<\/a> \u2014 a condition linked with a reduced quality of life and mental health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"healt-2068139229\"><div class=\"healt-adlabel\">Advertisements<\/div><div id=\"healt-870806405\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Medtronic Main desk\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/06\/07205822\/Medtronic-Main-desk.jpg\" alt=\"\"  width=\"750\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-avoid-putting-off-incontinence-treatment\"><strong>Avoid putting off incontinence treatment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are certain misconceptions about incontinence. For instance, there\u2019s a mistaken belief that it\u2019s an inevitable part of ageing. Plus, some think it\u2019s untreatable. So, they just learn to live with it; but that\u2019s not right, insists Chris Harding, Consultant Urological Surgeon at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Professor of Urology at Newcastle University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnyone experiencing regular urinary leakage needs to know it\u2019s not normal, no matter how old they are,\u201d he says. \u201cThey must also understand that good, effective treatments are available \u2014 and largely very successful, so people should never suffer in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The problem is that men, in particular, may be so embarrassed by symptoms that they put off seeing their GP. \u201cI understand that, because incontinence is thought of as a \u2018taboo\u2019 subject,\u201d says Professor Harding. \u201cWe have to break that taboo because some people will leave it five, 10 or 20 years before seeking help. In many cases, a simple treatment can be offered that will drastically improve their quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>DON\u2019T put up with incontinence. <br>See your GP.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-simple-interventions-can-make-a-significant-difference\"><strong>Simple interventions can make a significant difference<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are different reasons why symptoms appear. \u201cIf the bladder is overactive, the bladder muscle contracts when you don\u2019t want it to, resulting in the expulsion of urine,\u201d explains Professor Harding. \u201cIncontinence can also occur if there is weakness in the sphincter muscle and pelvic floor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simple interventions can make a difference. For instance, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">patients experiencing incontinence<\/a> at night (particularly those with an overactive bladder) are advised to reduce caffeine and evening fluid intake. In other cases, pelvic floor exercises may prove beneficial.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"healt-801371069\"><div class=\"healt-adlabel\">Advertisements<\/div><div id=\"healt-125085251\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Medtronic Main desk\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/06\/07205822\/Medtronic-Main-desk.jpg\" alt=\"\"  width=\"750\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-shared-decision-making-and-seeking-help\"><strong>Shared decision-making and seeking help<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Medications are available, too, and \u2014 in severe instances \u2014 surgical procedures are an option. \u201cI\u2019m an advocate for shared decision-making,\u201d says Professor Harding. \u201cHealth practitioners should explain the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">range of treatments availabl<\/a>e and work with the patient to decide which one will be the best fit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Certainly, we need more open conversations about incontinence. \u201cThat\u2019s why we support initiatives such as World Continence Week,\u201d says Professor Harding. \u201cWe want patients to know that medical practitioners have clear treatment guidelines for incontinence and that there is exciting research in this field. This will further improve treatment options and lead to better patient care, but we can only help people if we know they have a problem in the first place. So, DON\u2019T put up with incontinence. See your GP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><div style=\"text-align:center\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-button ab-block-button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"ab-button ab-button-shape-rounded ab-button-size-medium fb-pixel\" style=\"color:#ffffff;background-color:#110a4a\">Click here to learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Various treatments are available for urinary incontinence. If you have symptoms, don\u2019t put off seeing your GP because treatment could make a big difference to your quality of life. According to NHS England, approximately 14 million people in the UK have some degree of urinary incontinence \u2014 a condition linked with a reduced quality of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/mens-healthcare\/how-incontinence-treatment-options-can-improve-lives-of-patients-at-any-age\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":11299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5707],"tags":[5919],"class_list":["post-11298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mens-healthcare","tag-international-mens-health-week-2024"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/06\/07205826\/AdobeStock_728599274-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2024\/06\/07205826\/AdobeStock_728599274-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"henryphillips","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/henryphillips\/"},"vicky_category_order":[{"category_id":5707,"order":"3"}],"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11298"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11392,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11298\/revisions\/11392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}