Urinary urgency – with or without actual incontinence- is common, and can seriously affect quality of life. If you do not actually leak urine, this is not really incontinence, however, it does not mean that the urgency and frequency are not important symptoms that should be addressed. The mainstay of treatment for urinary urgency are anticholinergic medications. These medications work to inhibit the ability of the bladder to contract, so that your feeling of urgency does not translate itself into actual incontinence. Check with your doctor if one of these medications might be right for you. In addition to medications, physical and behavioral therapy also work for treatment of urgency, and have been proven to work better than medications in studies that have compared the two. Physical therapy might include learning both how to and when to perform pelvic floor exercises that can diminish urgency and prevent incontinence.
Rebecca Rogers, MD
Urogynecology
