UH Researcher Receives $1.6 Million to Reverse Urinary Incontinence

A University of Houston researcher is working to reverse pelvic floor dysfunction which can result in urinary incontinence, a condition affecting 30-60% of the female population and 5-15% of males. Stress urinary incontinence (SUI), the most common type of urinary incontinence in women, relates to the unintentional loss of urine which happens during movement or activities like sneezing, coughing or exercising. The condition is associated with pregnancy and aging and affects the pelvic floor, a group of muscles stretching from the pubic bone to the tail bone that contributes to continence. Read more.

Source: News-Medical.Net, October 15, 2020

Renovia Launches “REDUCE” – a Multi-Center Randomized Controlled Trial to Study Next-Generation leva® Pelvic Digital Therapeutic System for Urinary Incontinence

Renovia Inc. (“Renovia”), a company dedicated to discovering and delivering first-line digital therapeutic and diagnostic devices for women with pelvic floor disorders, today announced it has launched a large, multi-center randomized controlled trial (RCT) to study the efficacy of a first-line non-surgical digital therapeutic for the treatment of stress-dominant urinary incontinence (UI). Pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME), also known as Kegel exercises, are the widely accepted first-line conservative treatment for pelvic floor disorders including stress, urgency, and mixed UI within the urogynecology, urology and physical therapy communities. However, many women have trouble identifying and contracting the correct muscles when performing these exercises, and remembering to perform the exercises regularly can be challenging. Read more.

Source: Business Wire, November 12, 2018

ICS 2018: Atlantic Therapeutics Exhibit New Data Demonstrating Comparable Efficacy, Increased Tolerability and Reduced Infection Risk of its Non-invasive Device Innovo® in Treating Stress Urinary Incontinence

Atlantic Therapeutics, a global manufacturer of innovative, garment-based pelvic floor muscle strengthening and nerve stimulation products, exhibits data highlighting comparable safety and efficacy of its INNOVO^®therapy, an externally worn electrical muscle stimulation device for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence, with greatly reduced risk of infection and improved user tolerability over existing intravaginal probe devices¹. Presented as a poster at the 48th Annual Meeting of the International Continence Society, the data was the result of an FDA designed clinical trial, with patients whose condition had not improved using pelvic floor muscle training. Supporting Atlantic Therapeutics’ FDA approval via the De Novo route for INNOVO^®. Designed for at home use and worn as a close-fitting pair of shorts, INNOVO^® was compared with an existing FDA approved intravaginal stimulation product as control. Read more.

Source: PRNewswire, August 28, 2018

New System Uses Remote Medical Monitoring, Mobile Games to Improve At-Home Pelvic Floor Muscle Training

Urinary incontinence is any involuntary urine leakage. It is a condition that can be more or less severe and it affects one in three women of all ages, which is more than 56 million people in Europe and more than 350 million people in the world. It is not a normal part of ageing and has a negative impact on the quality of life of the women who suffer from it. The main risk factors for urinary incontinence are pregnancy and childbirth, overweight and obesity, and high-impact sports. There are several treatments to improve or cure its symptoms, depending on the type of incontinence, and it can also be prevented by taking measures before it appears. One approach that has proven effective in preventing and treating stress urinary incontinence is pelvic floor muscle training. It consists of a programme of contraction and relaxation exercises for the muscles that form the base of the pelvis. If the treatment is followed and performed correctly with the supervision of a therapist, the rate of cure/improvement may reach 70% .Read more.

Source: News-Medical.net, March 9, 2017

What You Need to Know to Put the Brakes on USI

Urinary stress incontinence (USI) affects 25 per cent of women over 40 with the incidence increasing with age. It’s defined as a loss of urine often with cough, sneeze, laughing, running or lifting. Yet despite the prevalence of this condition, many women do not seek help until symptoms become severe and have been ongoing for at least two years. Factors contributing to USI are childbirth, pregnancy, menopause, low back pain, weight gain and smoking. USI responds well to conservative non-surgical treatment with the first line of treatment often being pelvic floor strengthening exercises under the supervision of a physiotherapist. Physiotherapists often use biofeedback and electrical stimulation to help reeducate these muscles. Read more.

Source: The Chronicle Herald, February 8, 2017

Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)

Weak pelvic muscles can allow urine to leak out causing stress urinary incontinence.

Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) is the most common type of incontinence. The “stress” in this incontinence refers to a physical stress that’s placed on the urinary system, such as a cough, sneeze, or laugh. About 50% of women occasionally experience SUI. While women experience stress incontinence more often then men, some men do experience it as well.Continue reading→

Vaginal Weights or Cones for Women

Just as you build strength lifting dumbbells, you can build strength in your pelvic floor using vaginal weights or cones.

Have you seen people exercise by lifting small weights over and over? This builds up muscles. Vaginal weights or cones are used the same way to help women do weight-lifting exercises for the pelvic floor.

Vaginal weights or cones are usually ordered through a catalog or website. They usually come as a set having several different weights. The vaginal weights are smooth and are made of plastic on the outside with a metal weight inside. They have a string to help you pull them back out when you are done with them (like a tampon). They are usually shaped like a V or cone.Continue reading→

Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises

This is a diagram of the male pelvic floor. Men and women can both do pelvic floor muscle exercises to help strengthening the muscles located in their pelvic floors to help control urine leakage.

Pelvic floor muscle exercises make the pelvic floor muscles stronger. Strengthening these muscles may help you have more control over leaking urine during times of physical stress, such as laughing, coughing, or sneezing. These exercises are often referred to as Kegel exercises.

Everyone has a pelvic floor. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that form a hammock shape in your pelvis. Pelvic floor muscles hold up the pelvic organs and keep them in the right place. In women these organs are the uterus, bowel and bladder. In men the same muscles hold the bowel and bladder. The muscles of the pelvic floor can become weak and can start to sag. This can happen because of injuries, pregnancy, childbirth, or surgery (including prostate surgery and hysterectomies). The muscles can also become weaker from carrying extra weight, or from chronic coughing. Continue reading→