In many cases of stress incontinence, there is no need for a surgery, there are many treatments available that do not involve surgery (like exercises to help strengthen the muscles in the pelvic floor, commonly known as pelvic floor exercises).

A surgery for stress incontinence aims to improve support for the muscles around the bladder entrance to help the urethra to stay closed to prevent it from leaking. There are two types of surgical procedures for stress incontinence, one is surgery through the abdomen and the other is a surgery through the vagina.

In both cases there are three things to consider before making your final decision; first, surgery for stress incontinence is not recommended if you are planning to have children; second, no operation can be guaranteed to cure your stress incontinence, but most offer a good chance of making an improvement and third, there are risks of developing extra problems (complications) depending on the procedure.

In next week’s post you’ll find detailed information on each surgical procedure, i.e. how long each procedures lasts, recovery time, etc…