In this interview with Better Magazine, Dr. Roger Goldberg discusses some of the most common female Pelvic Floor Disorders like Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP), Bladder disorders, and Obstructed Defecation Syndrome (ODS).
Here are our highlights:
What do you wish more women knew about when it comes to pelvic health?
We’ve been fighting a battle of patient awareness. Women are still unaware that whether they have a long childbirth or a short childbirth, a big baby or a small baby, their bodies are never going to be quite the same.
Female bladder control is a huge issue. It affects anywhere upwards of 50% of women by the time they’re menopausal. Leaking with coughing, sneezing, running, and jumping is called stress incontinence. We’ve honed in on a 15-minute outpatient procedure with 90% success to address this.
Even here on the educated North Shore [of Chicago], women say, “Oh, you can fix that?” We have yet to scratch the surface of educating women on bladder control, which in human history has considered the cost of having kids. It’s not. It’s fixable with a quick outpatient procedure for many women.
There are different bladder disorders, and we have tests to determine if you are a candidate for the quick fix. Are you better off with physical therapy? We have injectables for some women where we don’t even need to go to the operating room.
What is Obstructed Defecation Syndrome, and what can you do for it?
Obstructed defecation affects about a third to a fifth of women. It’s a feeling of not being able to empty the stool. These women will say, “I feel like I am trying to go to the bathroom, but it feels stuck, and I have a hard time. I’m sitting on the toilet for long periods. Often, nothing happens, and I am uncomfortable.”
Even women with a smooth childbirth experience may develop bowel changes over time and have trouble with constipation and a feeling of not being able to evacuate, which is an unpleasant thing to talk about, but it’s common. On a typical day, I’ll see three or four women who will, when asked, nod their heads and say, “Yes, that’s me.” This is not a small problem; it is a major quality-of-life issue.
We can fix that problem for many women with a 40-minute outpatient procedure and no external incisions. They’re able to leave the hospital that day. This is only done here, but we’re starting to get the word out and train trusted colleagues.
These issues have been the least discussed in cocktail conversations with friends and even among doctors because there was a feeling of, “Well, there’s nothing you can do about that.” Also, it’s embarrassing: who wants to talk about that part of your body?
What’s important to realize is that it’s a pelvic floor condition due to weaknesses that result from childbirth. It’s an easily diagnosable physical loosening or detachment. The surgical method we’ve developed, which we’ve been doing for about six years, attaches those supports back into place.
It’s exciting to see a condition that has been thoroughly ignored, and that can make a massive impact on quality of life. But, it’s going to take women who had a great outcome coming out of their shells, telling their neighbors and doctors for people to understand this is not an inevitable cost of having a baby.
Read the Full Article from Better Magazine.
Interested in the Latest Innovative Treatments from Altyx Medical?
Learn about ODiSi™, a minimally invasive, mesh-free solution to chronic constipation caused by Obstructed Defecation Syndrome (ODS).
Learn about Urothread™, the most advanced surgical treatment for female Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)
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