Treatments for Incontinence

Baptist Health Paducah: Treatments for Incontinence

Urologist Michael Knox, MD, explains procedures he can perform in the office to help ease symptoms of patients suffering from incontinence without the need for medication.

Treatments for Incontinence Health Talks Transcript

Michael Knox, MD, Urology
Predominantly, we see two types of incontinence. We see stress incontinence and urgency incontinence. Stress incontinence is leakage of urine with coughing, laughing, sneezing. The other type of incontinence is urgency incontinence, where you go to the bathroom frequently, you have to get there quickly, you have to get up at night to urinate. Usually, we start with medications for that. Now, there are some subsets of patients who fail medications and do require further therapy. There are two options for those patients. We give them InterStim® or Botox® into the bladder. Now, the Botox is actually a toxin that paralyzes the bladder muscle. It’s a procedure that we do in the office. Patients tolerate it very well.

Dana Mayo, Paducah, Kentucky
You get it done once every six months and you don’t have to have any treatments in between the six months, so it’s not like you’re taking a pill every single day.

Dr. Knox
The majority of patients will have some relief with the Botox. Now, some of them have complete resolution of their incontinence, and the majority has at least a 60 to 70 percent improvement.

Mayo
It worked immediately. I can go out in public and not have to stop every five minutes and go to the bathroom. I don’t have to learn where all the bathrooms are in any businesses, because I don’t have to go back as often. It’s very nice.