Women who submit to surgery for urinary stress incontinence
should be aware that they may be taking part in what may be
nothing more than a large scale clinical trial. Countless
women's lives have been devastated by needless and
ineffective surgery for urinary stress incontinence.
During both a TVT surgery (tension-free vaginal tape), and
the newer TOT (transobturator tape), a tape is drawn under
the urethra. The theory is that the tape will support the
urethra so that under the 'stress' of sneezing, coughing,
etc., it will eliminate the leaking of urine that women who
suffer from stress incontinence are familiar with. These
procedures are most definitely not risk-free and leave some
women suffering more after the surgery than before.
"In most continence surgery the benefit of restoring
continence is often at the expense of developing new
symptoms, or exacerbating existing lower urinary tract
symptoms". This is from a study undertaken by the
Department of Urology, Mid-Western Regional Hospital,
Limerick, Ireland, and the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology in the Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick,
Ireland, and documented in the National Institute of Health
Sciences Bulletin, June 2004.
The first TVT was performed in Sweden in 1995. The TOT was
introduced from France in 2001. The long term results of
these surgeries may be catastrophic for women. Follow up
studies are generally carried out within three years of the
operation. Three years is not long enough to qualify as a
long term study considering the life-span of women today.
Health services around the world are investing billions in
solutions for urinary stress incontinence that may make the
problem worse or create new problems. One recent hospital
report states that 57% of women presenting for urodynamic
evaluation over the course of the year had already had some
form of pelvic surgery.
Urinary stress incontinence occurs due to a weakness in the
pelvic floor muscles. "There is a better way than surgery
to correct most cases of pubococcygeal weakness" Dr Arnold
Kegel, TIME magazine, 3 Dec 1956.
The better way Dr Kegel, an American gynaecologist, and
Associate Professor of gynaecology at the University of
Southern California was referring to over 50 years ago is
that of properly exercising the pelvic floor muscle against
resistance. He was alarmed at the amount of pelvic surgery
being carried out back in the 1940's. Resistance exercise
was a method he developed which reduced the amount of
unnecessary pelvic surgery, and often greatly improved the
sex lives of the women who practised it – a welcome
side-effect for once! Resistance exercise was found to be
so much more effective than surgery in eliminating urinary
stress incontinence in women that by 1950, routine surgery
for urinary stress incontinence was no longer carried out
in Dr Kegel's hospital. The success rate of 93% that Dr
Kegel achieved with resistance exercise in alleviating
urinary stress incontinence far surpasses the success rate
acheived with today's 'minimally invasive' surgeries.
"On the strength of these favorable results urinary stress
incontinence in women is no longer routinely treated by
surgical intervention at...LA County General Hospital." Dr
Kegel (A progress in Gynecology 1950, p768).
Resistance exercise must not be confused with the
nonsensical instruction to squeeze your pelvic floor
muscles against nothing. This cannot prevent or alleviate
urinary stress incontinence in the same way that working
the pelvic floor muscles against resistance can. Just look
at any fitness gym – any muscle toning is ALWAYS done
against some form of resistance. Pelvic floor exercises
were never meant to be done the way they are taught today.
They were ALWAYS meant to be performed against resistance.
It could be argued that anyone who instructs women to
squeeze against nothing may contribute to the problem, as
women conclude that pelvic floor exercises don't work for
them and opt for surgery as a result.
A ‘repair job' can never be better than a woman
strengthening her body to the degree that a ‘repair'
is unnecessary. A ‘repair job' to alleviate urinary
stress incontinence may cause more problems in the long
term than it resolves. Both the TVT and TOT involve the
formation of scar tissue to fix the mesh in place. It is
often only a matter of time before the repair becomes
ineffective as the weakness in the pelvic structure
increases, and then the incontinence will eventually
reappear. There may come a point after successive surgeries
where no further surgery may be carried out. The woman may
then be left permanently incontinent. Dr Kegel observed
that scar tissue from previous surgery contributed to the
failure rate of the few women who did not succeed with
resistance exercise.
More doctors today are becoming aware that resistance
exercise, not surgery, is the answer to the problem of
urinary stress incontinence. As resistance exercise
becomes more widely practised we can expect to see a
significant reduction in the numbers of women suffering
from urinary stress incontinence and from the after-effects
of a surgery they may have been easily able to avoid.
A basic understanding of the value of resistance exercise
would allow a woman to make a more informed choice about
consenting to a surgery that may not be in her best long
term interest.
© Abigail O'Donovan 2007
----------------------------------------------------
Abigail O'Donovan is a mum of two and the founder of
Kegelmaster Europe. She completely alleviated urinary
stress incontinence suffered for 17 years within just 3
weeks with resistance exercise.
She has seen other women cancel their appointment with the
surgeon and is committed to raising awareness of this
option for women. Discover how you can stop urinary stress
incontinence without surgery at
http://www.kegelmaster.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment