When Incontinence Is Nothing To Sneeze At! Urinary Incontinence impacts 1 in 4 Australians. Over the age of 50, more than 1 in 2 ladies will be affected – yet nearly 70% do not seek treatment for it. While surgical procedures remain the mainstay of treatment for severe incontinence, there is now a non-invasive laser option for women with mild to moderate incontinence.
“Urinary incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine that occurs when you lose control of your bladder and can be particularly problematic when running, jumping, sneezing, laughing or coughing,”says Dr Mike Shenouda, from Geniale Medical Aesthetics & Skin Cancer Centre at Drummoyne and on the Gold Coast. “Many women consider mild incontinence to be a normal part of ageing but in reality no amount of leakage is normal.” He says incontinence ranges in severity from occasionally leaking urine doing physical activity to having an urge to urinate that’s so sudden and strong and sometimes enough to wet the floor.
“This type of leakage is embarrassing and unpredictable – and can negatively impact personal life and self-esteem.” He says there are now non-invasive treatments for incontinence using laser, performed as a walk-in walk-out procedure.
These medical-grade precision lasers assist in treating several types of incontinence. He says unlike traditional invasive surgeries, these lasers do not involve injections, cutting, incisions, bleeding or sutures and generally there is no need for painkillers or antibiotics. “The upside is that there is no medication involved or no long recovery, with most people up and walking within an hour or two of the procedure,” says Dr Shenouda. He says a number of medical studies show that laser may be a viable solution for mild to moderate urinary female incontinence. A 2020 study in the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology* which looked at 31 studies on 1530 women, found that “all studies on vaginal and or urethral laser application for pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence reported improvement.”
Dr Shenouda says other popular procedures in his clinic include the P-Shot (Priapus shot) for men with erectile dysfunction or Peyronie’s Disease, using PRP (platelet rich plasma), that is extracted from the patient’s arm, spun through a centrifuge and then injected into the penis after a numbing cream is applied. “About 25% of men have intermittent erectile dysfunction in their lifetime. Many men don’t talk to their partners or wives about it, and it can be caused by a range of factors including medications for depression, diabetes and hypertension; radiation and surgery treatments after prostate cancer; smoking, alcohol and obesity and spinal injuries just to name a few.
“Erectile dysfunction can have devastating psychological impact, so I am delighted to be able to offer a treatment that is non-invasive and has virtually no downtime and involves a series of two simple injections a few weeks apart.”.
For the ladies, he offers the O-Shot®” (orgasm shot), designed to assist with low libido and vaginal dryness. And he says globally the designer vagina (or labiaplasty), became the fastest growing surgical procedure in cosmetic surgery in 2017*, and continues to enjoy skyrocketing popularity four years later. During the procedure, the clitoral “hood” and labia flaps are surgically reduced and re-shaped to improve self-esteem and appearance. “As people live longer and longer, they want to stay well and fulfilled for longer too. Sex and intimacy and feeling happy in your own skin is a big part of a fulfilled relationship and a happy life.”
Sources:
- Labiaplasty: World’s Fastest Growing Cosmetic Procedure
- Promising impact of platelet rich plasma and carbon dioxide laser for stress urinary incontinence, European Journal of Obstetric Gynaecology Reprod Biology, 2019 *3
- Autologous platelet-rich plasma in treating women with stress urinary incontinence; Nature Scientific Reports 2021*
- International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology – Laser *
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