How The Story Ends

If you are like most women who suffer from pelvic floor weakness, then finding the right treatment for your conditions can sometimes be a journey. The good news is that for the majority of women the story ends well, often with complete cure. Check out how the story ends for each of the women featured on our website, and then decide how you want your own story to end. The key is that there is a shared theme among all of these stories: hope. If you suffer from urinary incontinence, decreased sexual satisfaction, or other symptoms of pelvic floor weakness, don’t give up! There is hope and a high probability of a happy ending for you.

You just have to take the first step on your journey and ask for help, like these women did.

At first, Gwen tried physical therapy and medication for her SUI, but in the end she opted for surgery. Her doctor did further testing and decided Gwen was the perfect candidate for the surgery. Gwen has a good chance for a happy ending since studies show a 90-95% cure rate with surgery when patients are carefully selected, as Gwen was.

Helen visited her physician and got some help. Her physician diagnosed her condition as a cystocele, or a bladder prolapse, and recommended surgery to treat the problem. Because Helen's prolapse was fairly advanced, her physician felt that conservative measures would not cure her symptoms. Helen has scheduled her surgery and is gearing up for the big day. Helen has every reason to feel confident as studies demonstrate a 80% anatomic cure with this procedure.

Mary went to see the urologist referred by her friend Margie. After a thorough exam, the urologist suggested Mary try conservative therapy for her UUI, including doing Kegel exercises and using biofeedback techniques to ensure she was doing the Kegels correctly. Mary is so excited about her prospects, and she should be. Studies indicate that about 75% of people who use biofeedback for Kegel exercises report symptom improvement, and 15% are considered cured.

Tonya decided to tackle her problems in the bedroom with a pelvic floor fitness regimen. At the suggestion of her urologist, Tonya signed up for a Pilates-pelvic floor fitness class and began learning how to exercise and tone her pelvic floor. She was heartened to learn that several studies proved the link between pelvic floor tone and a woman’s ability to achieve sexual satisfaction. The news motivated Tonya all the more practice her Kegels and other pelvic floor exercises… at stoplights, while waiting in line at the grocery store, and, of course, in the bedroom!

Amy is still considering her options. She now knows that SUI is the primary culprit of her MUI condition, and her physician has recommended that she start with medication to reduce her symptoms and a simple weight-loss program to reduce stress on her pelvic floor. Amy is happy to start the medication, which has about a 50% effectiveness for women with SUI, but isn’t sure she has the commitment to tackle a weight loss program. Luckily for Amy, studies show that just a small amount of weight loss—as little as 5%—can cause a profound improvement in SUI symptoms.

Cherie was thrilled to discover that Kegels and other exercises would tone her pelvic floor so that she would prevent problems like urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse before they had a chance to occur. “Use it or lose it” had been her motto all her life—Cherie just didn’t know until now that the same adage applied to her parts down south. Her new motto? “Prevention is better than cure!”