Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
By Joseph Gauta, MD, FACOG
When you have Overactive Bladder, you learn to settle. To settle not only for the constant bathroom trips, but also for treatments that haven’t worked as well as you’d like or left you with unpleasant side effects.
There’s another approach. BOTOX® is approved to treat Overactive Bladder symptoms, such as a strong need to urinate with leakage, urgency and frequency in adults when another type of medication (anticholinergic) does not work well enough or cannot be taken. Even people with electrical stimulation treatments or devices can add Botox to their regimen if their current treatments are not working well enough.
A different type of treatment for OAB
BOTOX® takes another approach to targeting the source of your OAB: the bladder muscle itself. And now just might be the right time to ask your doctor about how BOTOX® treatment may help you with your OAB symptoms.
How does BOTOX® work?
BOTOX® works on the nerves and bladder muscle, blocking the signals that trigger OAB. In your body, certain chemicals travel from nerve cells to muscle cells to make your bladder contract so that you can urinate. With OAB, these muscles contract uncontrollably and you frequently feel like you have to empty your bladder.
BOTOX® treatment works by calming the nerves that trigger the Overactive Bladder muscle, helping to:
• Reduce daily leakage episodes
• Treat the strong need to urinate right away
• Reduce the number of times that you need to empty your bladder daily
Proven results
In two 24-week clinical trials, patients who received BOTOX® (vs. those who did not) reported a significant reduction in the number of their daily leakage episodes at week 12.
If you’re still not sure if you should talk to your urogynecologist about BOTOX®, ask yourself this question:
Have you tried taking medications to manage your OAB and stopped because:
• The side effects were intolerable?
• Or you still experienced urgency, frequency, or leakage?
If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. You’re in the majority of people with your condition who are frustrated with their current treatment. In one study of 1117 patients, 73.5% reported that they stopped taking their OAB therapy within 1 year. According to two separate surveys, the top reasons that OAB patients discontinued anticholinergics were due to side effects and/or lack of results.
Ask a urogynecology specialist if BOTOX® could be right for you.
Do you suffer from OAB, or other bladder, bowel, or pelvic disorders? Incontinence often negatively impacts daily living. The good news is that virtually all types of incontinence are treatable. The Florida Bladder Institute’s expert team is dedicated to helping you achieve the highest level of health and quality of life.
The clinical staff of the Florida Bladder Institute is well-versed and experienced in using a variety of techniques including medication, rehabilitation, minimally invasive surgical intervention and lifestyle education to improve your overall health and help you regain control and reclaim your freedom. For more information on BOTOX® and other treatment options, call 239-449-7979 today!
Joseph Gauta M.D.
Board Certified Urogynecologist
Dr. Gauta is now the first physician in S.W. Florida dual board certified in Urogynecology and Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Gauta’s practice, The Florida Bladder Institute, is solely dedicated to Urogynecology. One out of every six women suffers from overactive bladder and half of all women will suffer from pelvic organ prolapse. A challenge for women seeking treatment is that they would go to a urologist for one problem, a gynecologist for another and a gastroenterologist for another. Dr. Gauta explains “A Urogynecologist has the skill and experience to assess the entire pelvic region including the uterus, bladder, vagina, rectum as well as the muscles, ligaments, connective tissue and nerves that support those systems. Evaluating your pelvic system as a whole ensures the best treatment and outcome”. Some of the newer treatment options include biofeedback, electrical stimulation, Botox, and minimally invasive outpatient surgery. In addition to providing the most advanced medical care for his patients, Dr. Gauta is a preceptor for Boston Scientific, Medtronic and Olympus and trains other physicians from around the world on how to do the most advanced Urogynecology procedures. He is the recipient of the prestigious Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors award, and is amongst the top 1% of physicians in the country who are honored with the Patient’s Choice Award for 5 years in a row. Dr. Gauta received his training at Tulane University in New Orleans mentored by world renowned Urogynecologists David Herbert M.D. and Thomas Elkins M.D.
Florida Bladder Institute
239-449-7979
www.FloridaBladderInstitute.com
