Dr. Pradeep Kr Bansal

With a change in our lifestyle, our health gets affected and the way we satisfy our partner in bed alo gets affeted. Our poor lifestyle causes a number of problems and amongst those Erectile dysfunction is quite common. Erectile dysfunction is also known as impotence in men. When you lose the ability to retain an erection during sex, then you might be suffering from erectile dysfunction. There are many different reasons why you might suffer from it, like stress, fatigue, relationship issues, consumption of alcohol or performance anxiety. You will find many different pharmaceutical or surgical methods to cure erectile dysfunction, but here is a list of various different types of natural treatments which you might undertake:

1. Walk: Walk for at least 2 miles every day. Walking not helps you to stay healthy, but also helps reverse the situation of impotence which you might be suffering from. It also helps obese men retain their erection while having sex. Walking also helps you maintain a trimmed waistline which helps you fight erectile dysfunction. It helps you to maintain a healthy weight which reduces the risk of suffering from erectile dysfunction.
2. Exercise: Exercise seems to be the key answer to many such disorders. Even erectile dysfunction can be cured or treated with exercise. Pelvic or Kegel exercises will help you promote urinary continence as well as sexual well-being. Exercise helps you to strengthen your bulbocavernosus muscles which are responsible in engaging the penis with blood while erect. It also helps in ejaculation and clearing the urethra after urination.
3. Acupuncture: Acupuncture is a very popular form of treatment. Treating erectile dysfunction with acupuncture is one of the easiest treatments. This is because in most case erectile dysfunction occurs due to a psychological cause, and acupuncture helps to release this as it can relieve you of stress and anxiety.
4. Intake of Herbal Viagra: Red ginseng is known as herbal Viagra, as it possesses the ability to help treat erectile dysfunction. However, red ginseng needs to grow for 5 years before it can be used as a natural supplement of Viagra. A 2008 review has found red ginseng to treat erectile dysfunction effectively.
5. Watermelon Juice: Watermelons contain an amino acid called citrulline which helps in improving the blood flow to the penis. Watermelon is also called "nature's Viagra" as it helps achieve an erection and retaining it.

Erectile dysfunction sometimes tends to be extremely embarrassing. You might not want to discuss it with anyone, whether it is a friend or a doctor. So, if you try out these natural treatments, neither will you have to feel embarrassed nor will you regret trying them out. You can be rest assured that these will definitely help your condition.

Urinary incontinence, commonly known as loss of bladder control can really cause embarrassment. The severity of this condition may range from once in a while leaky urine to the sudden and forceful urge to urinate, due to which you end up urinating before reaching the toilet.

Types of Urinary Incontinence:

1. Stress Incontinence: When you feel the urge to urinate due to sneezing, coughing, laughing or while doing physical exercise
2. Urge Incontinence: When you feel the urge to urinate, suddenly. This may occur during the day and even at night.
3. Functional Incontinence: When you cannot reach the toilet on time because of a physical or mental impairment.
4. Mixed Incontinence: When you involuntarily urinate due to more than one incontinence

Stress incontinence is the most common type in women. The activities which increase your risk, are:

You have had more than one pregnancy and vaginal delivery.

You have pelvic prolapse. This is when your bladder, urethra, or rectum slide into the vagina. Delivering a baby can cause nerve or tissue damage in the pelvic area. This can lead to pelvic prolapse months or years after delivery.

Female urinary stress incontinence is the involuntary release of urine during any physical activity that puts pressure on your bladder. This potentially embarrassing condition differs from general incontinence in that it happens when the body is under immediate physical stress. Activities that can put stress on your bladder include coughing, sneezing, laughing, lifting heavy objects, or bending over. This condition is particular to women, many of whom experience symptoms after muscles have been weakened due to a vaginal childbirth, following menopause, or during pregnancy.

Ensure that you consult a doctor:

1. If this condition hinders your day to day activities
2. If the urinary incontinence is the result of a serious underlying problem

Causes of Urinary Incontinence:

Urinary incontinence may be temporary or permanent. Causes for temporary incontinence are-

1. Alcohol
2. Caffeine and caffeinated drinks
3. Decaffeinated tea or coffee
4. Spicy and sugary foods
5. High intake of Vitamin B or C
6. Urinary tract infection (UTI)
7. Constipation

Causes for Permanent Incontinence are:

1. Pregnancy
2. Childbirth
3. Old age
4. Menopause
5. Hysterectomy
6. Prostate cancer
7. Enlarged prostate
8. Neurological disorders

Complications:

Chronic urinary incontinence can lead to certain complications like:

1. Skin Problems: Skin rashes and infections can develop around the vaginal area, because of the constant wetness one feels. It may also cause sores.
2. Urinary Tract Infections: Urinary incontinence can also result in UTI
3. Impact on Personal and Social Life: Urinary incontinence can lead to great embarrassment, thus affecting the social and personal life of an individual.

Treatment for Female Stress Urinary Incontinence:

There are several types of treatment available. Treatment options include lifestyle changes, medications, nonsurgical treatments, and surgeries.

1. Lifestyle Changes: Make regular trips to the restroom to reduce the chance of urine leakage. Drink fewer fluids and avoid activities such as jumping and running.
2. Medications: Medications that reduce bladder contractions.
3. Nonsurgical Treatments: Kegel exercises strengthen your pelvic muscles. Done regularly, these exercises can strengthen your muscles, allowing you to control when urine is released from your body.

Surgery:

If other treatments fail, you will have to go for surgical treatment. Types of surgery include:

1. injectable therapy, in which collagen is injected into your urethra to reduce incontinence
2. tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) surgery, in which mesh is placed around the urethra to give it support
3. vaginal sling surgery, in which a sling is placed around the urethra to support it
4. anterior or para-vaginal vaginal repair surgery to repair a bladder that is bulging into the vaginal canal
5. retropubic suspension surgery to move the bladder and urethra back into their normal positions

Some doctors even try electrical stimulation and medication. When the condition is highly advanced interventional therapies and surgery is recommended.

Some interventional therapies are:

1. Bulking material injections
2. Botulinum toxin Type-A
3. Nerve stimulators

Urology is a branch of medicine that focuses on the diseases affecting the urinary tract system and male reproductive organs. The organs that come under the scanner here are the kidneys, adrenal glands, ureters, urinary bladder, urethra, and the male reproductive organs (testes, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate, and penis). Though there is a prevalent misconception that gynecologists are for women what urologists are for men, urology also deals with certain women related health issues. These include overactive bladder, pelvic organ prolapse, and urinary incontinence. In fact, doctors who specialize in female urology gain detailed knowledge of the female pelvic floor together with intimate understanding of the physiology and pathology.

Here are 9 things you should know as a woman

1. Age related factors affect both men and women: Right around the time when menopause and andropause strike, changing hormone levels affect the pelvic floor, bladder, urethra and vagina in women causing problems like urinary tract infection and incontinence. These conditions are effectively treated by an urologist who can also probe for underlying conditions like kidney stone, polyp, or tumor in severe cases.

2. An overactive bladder is more common than you think: Around 40% women have to hit the bathroom every hour or so owing to this. Simple lifestyle changes like lowering the intake of caffeine and alcohol, in combination with pelvic floor exercises can solve the problem.

3. Women sometimes pee in their pants too: A majority of the female population between 40 and 60 suffer from either stress incontinence (when you cough, sneeze or laugh) or urgency incontinence (leaking when you want to go badly). Urologists want you to know that there are less invasive options and medications available to treat this problem.

4. Walk the exercise path to good health: Exercises for your vagina like kegal are great when done right. You can connect with a practitioner who specializes in toning and the stimulation of pelvic floor muscles to treat incontinence.

5. Pelvic pain: If it is not gynecology then it is urology. A general pain in the pelvic region triggers a visit to the gynecologist first for most women.From menstrual cramps to ovarian cysts, all of this may well be taken care of by your gynecologist too. But when the usual culprits are not the cause for your discomfort, it's time you get the urology aspect examined thoroughly too.

6. Know the difference between UTI and STI: Because of cross symptoms, one often gets mistaken for the other. So check with your urologist to understand the cause and cure of your particular problem.

7. Recognize pelvic organ prolapse: This condition is defined by a bit of bladder, rectal, or uterine tissue bulging into your vagina. An urologist can provide non invasive options to deal with this.

8. Women can get kidney stones too: This is true, especially when you forget to hydrate yourself in hot climates or high temperature situations.

9. Urology can solve some sexual problems too: Whether it's sexual dysfunction, low libido or trouble reaching orgasm, urology can play its part to help you out.