Advanced Treatment Options for the Overactive Bladder (OAB)

 Its 3:00 AM and you’re still awake. You toss and turn from one side of the bed to the other, waking your spouse; you even perform deep breathing exercises you watched on the Health Channel the night before, but nothing seems to dull the urge. Staring deathly back up at the alarm clock, you realize that it has only been 40 minutes since your last get up to the bathroom. What do you do?
Not only is this interrupting your sleep, its affecting your quality of life all together. You have been taking all the prescribed medications to get back to the way things were. There is a sense of helplessness and discouragement, but the old you is not lost. It’s time to take action. If you have already tried medications and you’re not wielding any results it might be time to try some different types of treatments with minimal risks.

Botox

One of the most convenient treatments is BOTOX. This can be done in the doctor’s office and treatments can be as few as 2x (times) a year. The procedure can takes about 30 minutes and is administered by a number of injections. Before the procedure you will be given a numbing agent, maybe in combination with a sedative, to keep you relaxed and comfortable during the procedure. Once you are numb, the doctor will then proceed to enter a cystoscope into the urethra. The BOTOX goes through the cystoscope and injected to multiple areas of the bladder. The doctor will keep you for another 30 minutes of monitoring and you’re free to go if there are no further complications.

Urgent PC

Another treatment option is Urgent PC NeuroModulation System. It’s quite a mouthful, but it is actually simpler then you think. A slim needle is inserted near the tibial nerve that then carries impulses to from a hand stimulator to the sacral plexus (nerve in your leg) to control bladder function. It takes a total of typically 12 sessions with each session taking about 30 minutes. If you have time and the transportation, this could be a great treatment option.

 Interstim Therapy

Interstim Therapy is also a very viable choice. It uses an implantable device that sends mild electronic pulses to the sacral nerves, located near the tailbone. The sacral nerves control the bladder muscles related to urination. If the brain and sacral nerves are miscommunicating, the nerves can’t tell the bladder to function properly. The mild electrical pulses from Interstim Bladder Control Therapy regulate the sacral nerves. This helps the brain and the nerves communicate so the bladder and related muscles can function properly.

All these treatments vary from patient to patient. What is beneficial for one patient may not be acceptable for the other.  Consult your doctor to find the correct treatment preference for you and take the steps towards controlling your OAB symptoms.

                                                       Houston Metro Urology