Bladder Health Awareness: Finding the answers for better personal health

Research issued by the PFD Alliance finds that 90 percent of Americans underestimate or are unsure about the prevalence of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) which will impact one in three women at some point during their lives. This means many women undertreat PFDs and suffer in silence. 

The lack of awareness and stigma around these issues prompted the PFD Alliance, with support from the Gynecology Institute of Chicago and Northwestern Medicine’s Integrated Pelvic Health Program, to launch a public awareness campaign to help women impacted by pelvic floor disorders and minimize discomfort around seeking education and treatment of pelvic floor disorders. The campaign, “Break Free from PFDs,” aims to help women understand the facts about PFDs and empower them with information on how to pursue individualized solutions for improved quality of life.

Nearly one in three U.S. women suffers from a pelvic floor disorder (urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and fecal incontinence) with one in five having overactive bladder (OAB). OAB is a syndrome of urinary urgency and frequency, waking up at night to urinate and urinary leakage associated with urgency. OAB, like most PFDs, can be effectively treated with non-surgical and surgical treatment options. To treat OAB, the doctors work with each patient to understand how she wants to treat this quality of life issue. They review a woman’s treatment goals, overall health, fluid consumption patterns and other variables before discussing the many noninvasive treatment options available for this highly treatable yet troublesome condition. 

Similar to OAB, stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is the involuntary loss of urine during physical activity (coughing, laughing, lifting, etc.). This occurs when the muscles that support the tube that carries urine out of the body are weakened or damaged. Factors causing SUI include childbirth, hormone changes and weight gain. SUI afflicts approximately 19 million U.S. adult women. Incontinence can also be treated both surgically and non-surgically. They start a patient voiding diary to understand the frequency and then quickly progress through treatment options, which may include physical therapy to strengthen muscles to other non-surgical and out-patient procedures.

This week the PFD Alliance will host three Chicago area events to raise awareness about PFDs and educate women on the resources available to them.  The events, sponsored by The Gynecology Institute of Chicago and Northwestern Medicine’s Integrated Pelvic Health Program, will be held on November 12th-14th.  For more information about treatment options and to register for the events please visit: www.breakfreefrompfds.org/events

Additional resources:

Gynecology Institute of Chicago: www.gynecologyinstitute.com

Tel: 312.929.9191

Northwestern Medicine’s Integrated Pelvic Health Program: www.nmh.org/nm/integrated-pelvic-health-program-overview Tel: 312-926-4747