{"id":13097,"date":"2025-12-02T11:42:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T11:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=13097"},"modified":"2025-12-03T12:46:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T12:46:25","slug":"implantable-device-helps-patients-take-control-of-bladder-and-bowel-dysfunction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/bladder-bowel\/implantable-device-helps-patients-take-control-of-bladder-and-bowel-dysfunction\/","title":{"rendered":"Implantable device helps patients take control of bladder and bowel dysfunction"},"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=\"600\" height=\"818\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-13098\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/12\/02113416\/vicky-1764675256-patient-heeadshot.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Rebecca King<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Patient<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Patient with long-standing urinary issues highlights her life-changing experience with sacral neuromodulation, a minimally invasive therapy used to treat bladder and bowel dysfunction.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>While many people feel embarrassed or uncomfortable speaking about symptoms of urinary incontinence, urgency, frequency or frequent nighttime urination (nocturia), Rebecca King, a patient who once struggled with severe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\/what-is-incontinence\/what-is-urinary-incontinence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bladder symptoms<\/a>, hopes to empower others with her story of successful treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI started experiencing symptoms in my late teens, and it soon began to take over my life,\u201d explains King. \u201cI was physically exhausted; it affected my hobbies, my social life, travel and even just going to the shop.\u201d King experienced extremely severe symptoms, which dominated her life, including using the bathroom not only frequently, but for long periods of time to fully void her bladder, often getting up multiple times a night to go to the toilet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-exploring-treatment-options\"><strong>Exploring treatment options<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With symptoms so severe, she attended her local GP for assessment, but was not advised of any tangible treatment options and was not referred for specialist assessment. Sadly, this situation is all too common in clinical practice, as a lack of awareness and associated stigma can delay access to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\/what-treatments-are-available\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">effective treatment methods<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI felt so deflated because I was so young, and I knew something was wrong,\u201d explains King. \u201cI decided to move practice, and was eventually referred for urology assessment and given a range of options based on my specific case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Treatment typically depends on the symptoms, their severity and the patient\u2019s preferences and characteristics. First-line treatments include lifestyle adjustments, such as pelvic floor exercise, followed by medications and several minimally invasive treatments, such as Botox injections, can also be considered. Patients are often required to complete a bladder diary to track symptoms and treatment effects, which helps to inform clinical and shared decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBeing taken seriously changed everything \u2014 to hear you have options and a potential solution gives you hope, and to feel understood is truly life-changing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>First-line treatments include lifestyle adjustments, such as pelvic floor exercise, <br>followed by medications and several minimally invasive treatments, such as Botox injections<a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sacral-neuromodulation\"><strong>Sacral neuromodulation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.medtronic.com\/uk-en\/patients\/treatments-therapies\/overactive-bladder\/sacral-neuromodulation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sacral neuromodulation (SNM)<\/a> is\u00a0a minimally invasive therapy that uses a small implanted device to send gentle electrical pulses to the nerves controlling the bladder and bowels. For patients like Rebecca, it can restore communication between the bladder or bowel and the brain, regulating normal function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was finally told I was a candidate for SNM due to an overactive bladder, and after years of monitoring and considering a life of self-catheterisation or lifelong medication, the InterSim device seemed like a no-brainer to me,\u201d explains King. \u201cI was sent for Urodynamic testing under Dr Forde and his team at Beaumont Hospital, following which I received a test device for two weeks to check it was going to work for me before the permanent device was fitted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGetting the device isn\u2019t as scary as you\u2019d imagine. And when it works, you get your life back,\u201d explains King. \u201cWhile some steps can be quite intrusive, Hannah Graham, an advanced nurse practitioner at the Beaumont Hospital, made the process feel so easy and comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking back, King notes that the treatment has resulted in far more than just physical symptom relief, but the emotional and social benefits have allowed her to regain her life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere is a stigma around urinary issues, which makes it extremely isolating, and it can be very depressing,\u201d says King. \u201cNot being offered options is incredibly diminishing to people\u2019s wellbeing and hope. When you are finally taken seriously and shown a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supportincontinence.org\/your-guides-to-oab-and-fi-treatment-choices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">treatment pathway<\/a>, it changes your whole life. I can finally go horse riding again, play with my children, go to the shops and travel, things most people take for granted.\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:#000000\">Click here to learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patient with long-standing urinary issues highlights her life-changing experience with sacral neuromodulation, a minimally invasive therapy used to treat bladder and bowel dysfunction. While many people feel embarrassed or uncomfortable speaking about symptoms of urinary incontinence, urgency, frequency or frequent nighttime urination (nocturia), Rebecca King, a patient who once struggled with severe bladder symptoms, hopes &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/bladder-bowel\/implantable-device-helps-patients-take-control-of-bladder-and-bowel-dysfunction\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":13100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5955],"tags":[5998],"class_list":["post-13097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bladder-bowel","tag-bladder-bowel"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/12\/02114145\/vicky-1764675703-GettyImages-1168181180-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/12\/02114145\/vicky-1764675703-GettyImages-1168181180-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Mica Robertson","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/micarobertson\/"},"vicky_category_order":[{"category_id":5955,"order":"1"}],"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13097","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\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13097"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13111,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13097\/revisions\/13111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}