HUNTER WOMEN URGED TO ‘STOP COPING’ WITH BLADDER PROBLEMS AND START ‘LIVING’ AGAIN

FREE health education evening on female urinary incontinence There is hope for the thousands of women in the Newcastle and Hunter region who may experience the embarrassment and inconvenience of an ‘accident’ when they laugh, sneeze or exercise, or are having regular problems with their ‘waterworks’.

Women’s urinary incontinence affects 1 in 3 Australian women[1] but it is thought that only 30% of sufferers seek healthcare for the condition.[2]

Women of all ages are invited to a FREE public health information evening on female urinary incontinence to be held at the Quality Hotel Noah’s on the Beach, corner of Shortland Esplanade & Zaara Streets, Newcastle, where the latest information on how to manage, treat and even cure this common condition will be provided.

Starting at 6pm, local health experts – including a general practitioner, gynaecologist, incontinence nurse and specialist physiotherapist – will provide the most up-to-date information on this common condition which can seriously impact on a woman’s life.

A question and answer session will be held at the end of the meeting with the participating health experts answering questions from the floor.

Director of Gynaecology at John Hunter Hospital, Dr Brett Locker, will speak at the meeting about the options available to help women with the condition ‘start living’ again.

“Too many women go through life just coping with urinary incontinence; letting it control their lives. This free health education evening will provide women with information to help them stop coping with incontinence and start living.”

Dr Locker also pointed out that urinary incontinence was not a condition that was confined to older women or the elderly.

“Frequently women can experience urinary incontinence or ‘bladder weakness’ from their first pregnancy and childbirth, as their pelvic floor muscles are weakened,” he explained.

Maree, from the Newcastle region, first noticed some accidental ‘leakage’ after the birth of her child, even though her daughter – now 10 years of age – was delivered via caesarean section.

While 49-year-old Maree was able to “cope” with the condition through using continence pads and not drinking fluid before going out anywhere, her ‘weak bladder’ got progressively worse – particularly over the past five years. She found she couldn’t enjoy a good laugh with friends; coughing and sneezing meant she wet herself and she was uncomfortable and nervous going out shopping.

The turning point for Maree was a New Year’s Eve celebration where she and her friends were sitting outside enjoying plenty of laughs and great conversation. She had taken the precaution of emptying her bladder before attending the festivities to avoid an embarrassing moments. But this time even her preparation did not make a difference.

After one particular hearty laugh she had to excuse herself and “inch back inside”, as she described it, due to wetting herself completely through.

It was at that moment she decided to get investigate the options were available to her and find out more about her urinary incontinence.

Maree had stress urinary incontinence, a type of bladder problem where women involuntarily leak urine when they exercise, cough, sneeze or lift something.

After being referred to a gynaecologist by her GP, earlier this year Maree underwent one of the newer surgical procedures available to many women with stress urinary incontinence.

She is now enjoying life without stress urinary incontinence and is back doing all the things she used to do before her ‘weak bladder’ wreaked havoc with her life.

What would she say to other women who experience the same problems that she faced?

It is up to the woman herself to decide when she wants something done about her condition. These bladder problems can have a huge impact on someone’s life and every woman should learn as much as she can about them, how to treat it and what options she has available,” Maree said.

Newcastle and Hunter region women will have the opportunity to have their questions around ‘bladder problems’ answered at the ‘stop coping. start living’ FREE health education information evening at the Quality Hotel Noah’s on the Beach on Wednesday, 4 November 2009.

The ‘stop coping. start living’ FREE health education information evening will be held on Wednesday 4 November 2009 between 6pm and 8.30pm at Quality Hotel Noah’s on the Beach, Cnr Shortland Esplanade & Zaara Streets, Newcastle

The meeting is open to women of all ages.

To reserve your seat at this free health education event, or for more information, please call 1800 889 459.

1. Continence Foundation of Australia Facts and Stats:
www.continence.org.au
2. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Managing Incontinence in General Practice –
Clinical Practice Guidelines, 1st Edition 2002.