What Dr. Linh Do wants patients to know about urinary incontinence
Urinary incontinence, or UI, causes symptoms that can make women feel miserable, embarrassed and isolated. Dr. Linh Do, a welcome addition to our team of Houston urologists, wants to change that by educating, diagnosing and treating women who suffer from symptoms such as urine leakage, a strong urgency to urinate, frequent urination and painful urination. Here’s how she explains incontinence to her patients.
“There are really two components to urinary incontinence,” Dr. Do says. “The first is the component that’s affected by the anatomy, and the second is the component that involves the bladder. If there is a defect in the support of the pelvis, that usually causes stress urinary incontinence, or SUI, and causes women to leak urine when they laugh, sneeze, exercise or cough. If the bladder is involved, that leads to urgency urinary incontinence. This condition also causes urine to leak, but usually when a woman is trying to get to the bathroom. It also makes patients feel like they always have to go.”
Lifestyle changes and behavior modifications help with many patients’ symptoms
About 60% to 70% of the time, women can improve their symptoms by making dietary and lifestyle changes. Here are some of Dr. Do’s suggestions.
- Cut back on caffeine, artificial sweeteners, carbonated drinks, spicy things and citrus foods.
- Lose weight if overweight or obese.
- Practice timed voiding, or going to the bathroom every two hours to keep the bladder empty.
- Train the bladder so that it learns to tolerate more time in between urination.
Urogynecologist Dr. Linh Do skillfully diagnoses and treats urinary incontinence
Women who have urinary symptoms benefit from a physician with expertise in treating the pelvic floor.
“Sometimes, urinary symptoms can be due to another condition, but the physician has to understand the bladder and the pelvic floor in order to truly home in on the correct diagnosis and the correct treatment,” she explains. “With the additional three years of fellowship training, I have the experience to accurately read test results and perform examinations, such as a cystoscopy, to examine the bladder. There are many different components to urinary incontinence that can be very complex.”
Dr. Do performs physical examinations, urodynamic testing and cystoscopies to diagnose UI. Her treatment tools range from non-invasive methods, such as lifestyle changes, pessaries and medications, to minimally invasive procedures, such as placing a sling, urethral bulking, Botox bladder injections and more. She also recommends pelvic floor physical therapy.
Dr. Do joins our Houston urologists to improve women’s quality of life
We are proud to add the services of urogynecologist Dr. Linh Do, a highly trained and skilled specialist, to our team of Houston urologists. Contact us to schedule an appointment with Dr. Do or call 218-493-9966.
