Urogynecology
What is urogynecology?
How to break up with the bathroom.
Maintaining intimate wellness at any age.
Feel more comfortable and confident with advanced treatment for pelvic floor disorders and bladder issues. Our compassionate, skilled team of urogynecologists will find the cause of your symptoms and develop a treatment plan that fits your life. Your visits will be handled with sensitivity, dignity, and privacy.
What is urogynecology?
Urogynecology is a medical specialty that combines urology and gynecology to treat conditions relating to the female reproductive system and urinary tract, also known as your pelvic floor.
More than 50 percent of women ages 55 and older have symptoms of pelvic floor disorder.
Your doctor may refer you to a urogynecologist for a number of symptoms, including:
- Overactive bladder
- Incontinence or leaking urine
- Frequent or painful urinary tract infections
- Pain, pressure or bulging in your vagina
Remember, pelvic floor disorders are a medical condition and nothing to be embarrassed about. We can help you get the treatment you need.
Vaginal rejuvenation therapy.
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- Urine leakage
- Lack of vaginal lubrication with sexual stimulation
- Chronic vaginal dryness
- Loss of elasticity in your vaginal tissue and surrounding skin
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Common urogynecology conditions.
Weak muscles and ligaments that typically support your pelvic organs can weaken with aging or straining, causing the organs to slip out of place and bulge into your vagina.
It can be caused by pregnancy, childbirth, aging, obesity, chronic cough, chronic constipation or heavy lifting. Prolapse can be corrected by both surgical and non-surgical treatments.
Symptoms include:
- Feeling like you are sitting on a ball
- A pulling feeling or pain in your abdominal or pelvic area
- Pain during sex
- Frequent urination
- Tissue protruding into your vagina or even coming out of your vagina
Leaking urine may feel embarrassing, but it is extremely common — about 13 million Americans live with urinary incontinence for a number of reasons.
Age, stress, and infections could all play a role in weakening your control of your urinary sphincter.
It’s common for urine to leak out when pressure is placed on your bladder in everyday situations such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, lifting and exercise. This happens because your pelvic floor muscles have lost strength from pregnancy and childbirth, menopause, hysterectomy or other surgical procedures, aging or obesity.
This type of incontinence, also called reflex incontinence, is caused by an overactive or unstable bladder that contracts and creates a sudden urge to urinate. When this urge happens, sometimes seemingly for no reason at all, you will have just a short time to use the bathroom before you urinate involuntarily.
You may notice urges when you change position, when you hear water running or during sex. Urge incontinence is often caused by cystitis, or inflammation of the lining of the bladder caused by bacteria. It can also be caused by central nervous system disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
Like other forms of urinary incontinence, an overactive bladder can interfere with your lifestyle and your day-to-day responsibilities. Spasms of your bladder muscles as well as nerve issues cause sudden and immediate need to urinate even if your bladder contains just a small amount of urine. Your bladder muscles and nerves can be affected by pregnancy and childbirth, medication, aging, trauma, aging or obesity.
The inability to control your bowel movements can damage your self esteem and your ability to enjoy time with family and friends as well as your favorite hobbies. We can help you find a solution. When fecal matter leaks unexpectedly, it can range from a small amount to a complete loss of control. This could be caused by diarrhea, chronic constipation, weakened muscles or nerve damage. Bowel control comes from rings of muscle at the end of your rectum. The nerves give you the feeling that you need to use the bathroom and also allow you to control your anal sphincter. Muscle and nerve damage can be caused by aging, childbirth, spinal cord injury, stroke or constant straining during bowel movements.
A fistula is an abnormal connection that forms in the body, almost like a tunnel. This is a severe medical condition that requires surgery to repair.
Examples of fistulas could be connections between your bladder and vagina or between the intestine and vagina. This could cause urine or fecal leakage into your vagina. Fistulas are typically caused by injury or surgery, though they can also form after an infection or severe inflammation.
This condition causes pain in your bladder and surrounding pelvic region, along with the urgent need to urinate frequently. The pain and discomfort often become more intense when your bladder fills with urine or empties, during your period or during sex.
We don’t yet know what causes intestinal cystitis, but we can treat the symptoms with medication, electrical nerve stimulation and other non-surgical options. Surgery may be an option for you after you’ve tried other treatments without relief.
Medical-grade mesh is sometimes used to repair weakened tissue that causes pelvic organ prolapse. Surgical mesh is used to reinforce the vaginal wall, support the urethra or prevent urine leakage. But sometimes, complications happen that cause pain, infection, bleeding urinary issues and problems having sex. We can help by correcting these complications so you can get back to your active life.