Treatments for urinary incontinence

Dear Ask The Doctor: I am female and 20 years old and i think i have urinary incontinence is this normal and what can i do about it?

Dear Rhian: Urinary incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine which may be quite embarrassing to experience and I understand your concern. In younger patients urinary incontinence may be due to a single identifiable etiologic cause. There are certain risk factors that predisposes to urinary incontinence such as pregnancy, childhood enuresis, high impact physical activities, diabetes, stroke, depression, fecal incontinence, vaginal delivery, episiotomy, estrogen depletion and genitourinary surgery.

I would suggest that you see an obstetrician or preferably a urologist for further evaluation. You doctor may do a complete blood work-up, imaging studies and cystoscopy to determine the cause of incontinence. Treatment will depend on the cause. I hope the information helps, take care.