What Do Women Need To Know About Overactive Bladder? - Dr. Eilber (VIDEO)

Dr. Eilber:
By definition overactive bladders, anyone who voids more than eight times in a 24-hour period, it is commonly associated with incontinence. What you need to know is it also affects many, many people, probably over 33 million, and that’s likely an underestimation because not everybody tells their doctor. Interestingly, overactive bladder affects men just as much as women, and medication is the mainstay, but again, these days there are other options, including Botox and nerve stimulation for that.

Botox, as everyone knows, is a muscle paralyzing agent, and when people have overactive bladder in essence their bladder will actually contract by itself. The Botox works by paralyzing the bladder in a controlled fashion so that it can’t squeeze by itself. People have less frequency, less urgency, less urge incontinence.

Unlike the face, the Botox tends to last anywhere from 6, 9-12 months, much longer than the face itself. At this time it is not an FDA-approved indication, but it works very well and hopefully the next year or so it will be FDA-approved.

So overactive bladder, again, is the bladder in essence is functioning on its own. In addition to Botox there is a nerve stimulator that, a wire is actually implanted alongside the nerve that stimulates the bladder, and this is regulated by a pacemaker identical to a cardiac pacemaker. Before implanting one in a patient, a test is done in the office to determine if the patient is an appropriate candidate, and if so they have a pacemaker implanted, and depending on a patient’s battery settings, may last as long as 8 to 12 years.

About Dr. Karyn Eilber, M.D.:
Dr. Karyn Eilber, M.D., is one of the few board certified female urologists in the Los Angeles area that is fellowship trained in the treatment of incontinence, voiding dysfunction, and female pelvic reconstruction. Dr. Eilber received her medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine and completed a urology residency and fellowship also at UCLA.

Following fellowship training, Dr. Eilber joined the Department of Urology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center where she gained extensive experience in pelvic reconstruction following cancer treatment and treating male incontinence after prostatectomy. Since returning to California, her practice is focused on vaginal reconstruction and the treatment of both men and women for incontinence and voiding dysfunction.

Visit Dr. Eilber at her Web site

More on This

Urethral Slings: What Are The Risks, Benefits and Recovery?

Peeing or Leaking During Sex--Is that Normal?

Urinary Incontinence and Vaginal/Perineal Skin Irritation- Is this Common, ...

Are there Gaps in Your Cancer Post-treatment Care?

Tags:

• Overactive Bladder
• Urinary Incontinence