If you are one of the millions of people affected by incontinence, (loss of bladder or bowel control), there is a new treatment that can free you from the suffering this condition can cause without the need for painful surgery or expensive medications.

Urinary incontinence is a symptom - not a disease itself. Many conditions can cause a loss of bladder control, including pelvic surgery, neurological disease, pregnancy, diabetes, childbirth and injury. Incontinence should not be accepted as a natural consequence of aging.

The two most common types of incontinence are stress and urge. Stress incontinence occurs during exercise, coughing, sneezing, lifting or laughing. Urge incontinence is the strong need to pass urine and the inability to get to the bathroom in time without leaking.

Many people with incontinence hide their condition and turn to absorbent materials like pads and diapers. They often fail to seek treatment believing that none is available other than possible surgery.

In fact, excellent help is available here in Lorain County. EMG-Directed Biofeedback, a type of behavioral therapy, is a safe, painless method to treat stress and urge incontinence as well as other bladder and bowel disorders without surgery, medications or injections. There are no side effects or complications and the success rate with this new therapy indicates an 87% improvement of incontinent symptoms in our patients.

EMG-Directed Biofeedback is approved by most major insurance companies, including Medicare and follows the recommendations of the National Institute of Health and the incontinence guidelines of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research guidelines for incontinence. For more information about Incontinence call the National Association for Continence at 1-800-Bladder or the Lorain County Biofeedback Program at 440-985-9898.

EMG-Directed Biofeedback is usually performed weekly in a Physician's office by a specially trained Clinical Nurse Technician. Using a computer to help visualize the pelvic floor muscle activity, the patient is taught to identify, isolate, exercise, and contract specific pelvic muscles. The end result is a strengthening of the pelvic floor musculature and improved bladder control. A complete course of treatment can take up to three to four months.

Reprinted from The Chronicle Telegram, 10/29/98