Why You Need to Know about Your Bladder Health: Addressing the Taboo Topic of Women’s Pelvic Health

Dear Editor,

I spend much of my time as a medical professional helping women cope with problems called pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) that they never even thought about having to address and are also incredibly embarrassed to discuss. The most common PFDs are overactive bladder and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Women with these issues feel the need to use the restroom all the time or experience leakage when they are doing everyday activities like coughing or laughing. Research issued by the PFD Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing awareness about PFDs, finds that 90 percent of Americans underestimate or are unaware of the commonness of PFDs, which will impact one in three women at some point during their lives. Most women are not getting treated for their PFDs and are suffering in silence.

Some of the common reasons women suffer in silence are because of the discomfort that they feel in talking about treatment for PFDs and also because it is often referred to as an “older woman’s problem.” Although one of the risk factors for developing a PFD is age, many women don’t realize that they also often develop during and after pregnancy. Many times my patients say they thought that they needed to learn to live with it; however, we want to empower women to take back their lives.

Recently, UMass Memorial Medical Center held an educational event in Northborough to offer local women the opportunity to hear from leading physicians about prevention and nonsurgical and surgical treatment options for PFDs. Along with the PFD Alliance, the urogynecological specialists at UMass Memorial are working to spread the word about PFDs so that more conversations can be held on this taboo topic of pelvic health and encourage women to look for community organizations and hospitals that can help with prevention and treatment.

No one should ever be kept from living their life because of PFDs. Help us spread the word about PFDs and visit www.breakfreefromPFDs.org to learn more.

Sincerely,

Jyot Saini, MD, Urogynecologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Massachusetts Medical School