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Home › Articles › Living with Incontinence › A Prescription for Discussion

A Prescription for Discussion

The Importance of Seeing a Health Care Provider About Incontinence

By Lyn Mettler

Pages:  1  2  3  

When Your Physician Is Not Supportive

Occasionally, you may approach your doctor only to find he or she is not as supportive as you would like them to be. At any sign of dismissal of your concerns, start looking for a new provider, says Muller. The NAFC offers a database of continence care experts that you can access via their Web site at www.nafc.org.

According to Muller, signs to look for to determine if your physician is not going to be supportive include:

  • Not giving priority or attention to incontinence care.
  • Not caring.
  • Not offering you treatment or management options.
  • Not seeming educated about the topic or not referring you to a specialist if that is the case.

    • "No one should have to put up with a health care provider who isn't informed or who takes a narrow view on [incontinence] or who doesn't give it adequate priority or time," says Muller. She recommends, however, being sure you ask your doctor when there is enough time to discuss the issue and not waiting until he or she is walking out the door of your exam room.

    More than likely, though, your doctor will be open and helpful in exploring the topic and your experience will go something like 62-year-old Sandy Behrends' did. "I felt a little awkward the first time I went to the urologist, but after that it was just another office visit," says Behrends. "I have him laughing now by the time I leave his office."

    Key Survey Findings

    The NAFC/Kimberly-Clark survey revealed a number of findings, including:

  • Those who were diagnosed were eight times more likely to seek out information about their condition.
  • More than half of those diagnosed felt a sense of relief since they began managing their bladder control loss versus 40 percent of undiagnosed participants.
  • Those diagnosed are more comfortable discussing their condition with significant others, family members and health care professionals.
  • Twenty percent of those who are diagnosed say their sex life is more fulfilling versus 13 percent of those who are undiagnosed.


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