What can I do if I lose control of my bladder when I sneeze, cough or laugh?

What can I do if I lose control of my bladder when I sneeze, cough or laugh?

Jennifer Anger, M.D, M.P.H. (Assistant Professor) gives expert video advice on: What can I do if I can't make it to the bathroom in time to urinate?; What can I do if I lose control of my bladder when I sneeze, cough or laugh?; What can I do if I lose control of my bladder when I lift weights? and more...

Leakage with cough, laugh, sneeze is most common in women, women who have had a vaginal delivery. It can also happen when someone has predisposing factors, like age, obesity, and also something like, smokers might be predisposed because they cough a lot. If it's mild, or happens soon after a vaginal delivery, a woman can learn Kegel exercises to help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. When it doesn't improve with Kegel exercises, we have great treatment options. One is a temporary means to bulk up the urethra with some type of agent such as collagen, or other types of materials. And what I think the new gold standard is, is a surgical procedure called the sling. That has actually become very popular since the mid-nineties. It's an operation that has good efficacy, and actually the morbidity is low. There's also a procedure done from an abdominal approach called the Birch procedure, which is also effective, and before the sling was considered the gold standard.