Female Urology

Approximately 1 in 4 women of child-bearing age will suffer a urinary tract infection (UTI) and of these a quarter will have problems with repeated infections. This causes pain and discomfort and often needs several trips to the GP for antibiotics.

Urinary leakage is a common but distressing problem that can affect anyone at any stage of their life. It is, however, more common in women and tends to become more prevalent as they get older. There are several different types of urinary incontinence but the 2 most common are: stress incontinence – leaking when you cough, sneeze or exert yourself and urge incontinence – not getting enough warning to make it to the toilet.

Stress incontinence is usually due to a weakness of the pelvic floor and is more common in women who have had children. Treatment is aimed at trying to improve muscle strength through pelvic floor exercises. A supervised, structured programme is usually more effective than self-taught exercises. If this fails, then surgery may be offered in the form of a “tape” or “mid-urethral sling”.

Urge urinary incontinence, also known as an overactive bladder or overactive bladder syndrome, is a very distressing condition as it is so unpredictable.

Pain in the bladder is usually due to a specific problem like an infection or sometimes a stone. However, in some cases there is no obvious explanation and the pain persists and is then referred to as Painful Bladder Syndrome. Usually this is felt as pain low down in the abdomen over the bladder and is associated with a frequent need to urinate to try to alleviate the discomfort.

Most people who pee blood would probably think that this was a little worrying. Sometimes blood in the urine can be the first sign of a really important problem such as a bladder or kidney cancer. These problems are more common in current or ex-smokers but even people with a healthy lifestyle may have them.

Kidney stones make up the majority of stone disease in the UK but bladder stones still occur, usually in men whose bladders empty incompletely of urine do not empty of urine completely. Stones occur most commonly in the 20-50 age range, but can affect any age group. Men are affected more commonly than women and stones occur more frequently in the summer.