When should I talk to a doctor about incontinence?

When should I talk to a doctor about incontinence?

Jennifer Anger, M.D, M.P.H. (Assistant Professor) gives expert video advice on: What kind of doctor can help me with bladder control?; What treatments are available for women who have stress incontinence?; What treatments are available for men who have stress incontinence? and more...

Again, I think it should be early, because we want to make sure that there's not anything untreated going on that's the true cause of incontinence, such as a bladder infection, a bladder stone, or even a bladder tumor. Most of the time, it's not any of those things, but I think it's important to rule out anything that is bad, for example. Then, I think it's important because of that reason. I think it's important to bring it up early to a physician. It doesn't necessarily need to be treated, but we have a lot of treatments available. A primary doctor, such as an internist, or a family practice doctor, can make good medication recommendations, and can often treat patients with incontinence, without the need to go to a specialist. When it comes time for surgical treatment of stress incontinence, it is often a specialist who would see that patient at that time. A specialist is often necessary when a patient doesn't respond to medications for urge incontinence, such as anticolon urging medication. At that point, it's the specialist that would perform another procedure such as Botox into the bladder or neuromodulation.