As Australia’s leading independent information source for cosmetic surgery, non-surgical cosmetic treatments and the latest in industry advancements, Costhetics has no use for the word “unmentionable.”
There’s no topic we won’t tackle, and that brings us to the subject of today’s article: incontinence.
We know! We know! Leakage ‘down under’ is a somewhat embarrassing subject. However, there’s something else we know: you can beat back incontinence the same way you beat back wrinkles, and with the same injection! We begin by uncovering some surprising statistics on this under-covered topic.
Australia Awash in Urine?
Incontinence means different things to different people…a lot of people. According to the Continence Foundation of Australia, bladder control issues affect up to 13% of Australian men and 37% of Australian women. In fact, one study concluded that over a 3-month period, 50% of women aged 45-59 years of age experienced some degree of mild, moderate or severe urinary incontinence.
With so much incontinence floating around, you’d think waiting rooms would be filled with people looking for help. In reality, 70% of people with urinary leakage do not seek treatment for their problem. It’s truly a shame because an innovative, new treatment could bring them significant relief.
How to Stick It to Bladder Leaks
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you can’t have missed Australia’s enthusiasm for cosmetic injectables, especially botulinum toxin. BT is a neurotoxin. It inhibits the muscle movement that leads to active wrinkles and, in the process, can prevent the development of static wrinkles.
There’s more to botulinum toxin than your good looks, however. Australians use this clever little chemical to:
- Control excess sweating
- Help alleviate chronic migraines
- Mitigate chronic pain
“We see (botulinum toxin) as a molecule that keeps on giving. As we understand it more, it gives us new ideas of how to use it,” Dr Mitchell F. Brin, a neurologist and the chief scientific officer for the leading neurotoxin manufacturer, told The New York Times.
Now, we are learning that a series of cosmetic injections can give incontinence the boot. How? Neurotoxins block the actions of acetylcholine in your body. This paralyses the bladder muscle.
Neurotoxins cannot address the involuntary leakage of urine. However, the injections do relax those bladder muscles and prevent them from unnecessarily squeezing. This gives tremendous help to anyone suffering from incontinence.
10 Signs Your Urinary Tract Needs Help
Early markers for incontinence are often overlooked because people don’t know what to look for and may not realise that urinary incontinence has many faces. Costhetics is always eager to help, and our team has created a quick questionnaire that you can use to give yourself a home check-up and monitor your health:
- Do you lead urine when you cough, laugh, sneeze, exercise, or lift something heavy? (You may have stress incontinence)
- Do you experience a sudden urge to pee, followed by an involuntary loss of urine? (You may have urge incontinence)
- Do you get up frequently throughout the night to use the bathroom? (You may have urge incontinence)
- Does your bladder fail to empty completely, causing you a frequent or constant dribbling of urine? (You may have functional incontinence)
There is also a condition known as missed incontinence, which is a combination of any or all of the symptoms above.
Can you help us be part of a brave, new world where fewer people can worry about incontinence? Please tell the people you know about this effective option in health care. Even if they blush a bit at first, they’ll thank you.