Treatment consists of both surgical and medical components. Medical therapy consists of medications, hormone replacement, pelvic floor exercises, weight reduction, bladder retraining and avoiding foods that can irritate the bladder. All of the above medical components can cure or significantly reduce urinary incontinence of the different types. Another medical option that is available for stress incontinence is the use of a pessary. A pessary is small device of varying shape and sizes that is inserted in the vagina to help prevent urinary incontinence.
Surgical treatments are available but are only effective with stress type urinary incontinence.
The mechanism for stress incontinence is usually anatomical. The urethra becomes hypermobile and unstable resulting in urine leakage. The goal of surgery would be to stabilize the urethra and restore it to a normal position. Two procedures that are most frequently used are the Burch procedure and the Suburethral sling procedure. The procedure chosen usually depends on the patients past surgical history and results of the cystometry.