Don't Suffer in Silence with Urinary Incontinence: Learn About Sacral Stimulation

Difficulty controlling your bladder can seem like a lonely and embarrassing problem. But you’re far from alone, and urinary symptoms are nothing to be ashamed of. They’re also very treatable.

In fact, up to one-third of adults in the United States deal with urinary incontinence. If you’re among them, you may want to consider sacral stimulation, also known as sacral nerve stimulation or sacral neuromodulation. 

Our expert team at Houston Pain Specialists, led by board-certified pain management specialist Hui Kang, MD, is pleased to offer sacral neuromodulation by Axonics® to help you manage urinary incontinence with ease.

 Take a few moments to learn more about this common condition, including how sacral nerve stimulation can provide relief.

Urinary incontinence basics

Urinary incontinence leads you to involuntarily leak or fully release urine. You might dribble urine when you cough, exercise, laugh, or sneeze, or completely empty your bladder before you can get to a restroom. 

While most everyone leaks a bit of urine at some point, frequent or severe symptoms indicate incontinence. 

Urinary incontinence can stem from a range of causes, such as:

• Vaginal or urinary tract infections
• Certain medications, such as diuretics and ACE inhibitors
• Overactive or weak pelvic muscles
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Nerve damage

Symptoms related to nerve issues are especially likely if you have diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson’s disease. Your odds of experiencing urinary incontinence also increase with age. 

How sacral nerve stimulation helps

Numerous treatments — such as bladder training, pelvic floor exercises, medications, and surgery — reduce urinary incontinence symptoms. 

Sacral nerve stimulation provides a useful option if your symptoms come from improper signals between your brain and bladder. The system we use at Houston Pain Specialists, Axonics Therapy, involves a tiny implant that gently stimulates the nerves that control your bladder for improved brain-bladder communication

Axonics Therapy also treats urinary retention, a condition that suddenly or gradually keeps you from emptying your bladder, and fecal incontinence, in which you involuntarily release feces. 

For all three of these conditions combined, Axonics has found that the treatment leads to clinically significant improvements for 93% of patients within two years.

Getting started with sacral nerve stimulation

If you’re experiencing signs of urinary incontinence, Dr. Kang and our team can determine if sacral stimulation seems like a promising option. If it is, we may start you on Axonic Therapy for a test period to determine whether the treatment improves your symptoms before you commit to long-term treatment.

To learn more about urinary incontinence or find out if you’re a good candidate for sacral stimulation, contact our Houston, Texas, office today to schedule an appointment.