Our Dallas urogynecology office provides InterStim therapy and hope for women with symptoms of overactive bladder
Dr. J. Kyle Mathews is an experienced urogynecologist who treats many patients with overactive bladder at his Dallas urogynecology office. These patients often experience symptoms such as frequent urination, feeling the sudden urge to urinate, needing to urinate at night and incontinence. Incontinence causes urine to leak out during activity such as coughing, sneezing or exercise.
These symptoms create problems for women—they may be afraid to go out, experience problems at work or have sexual problems.
Dr. Mathews wants women to know that they should not just assume that these problems are a normal part of getting older—they are not. Women who have tried other treatments that have not worked come to our Dallas urogynecology office and discover that InterStim therapy may help them and truly change their lives.
What is InterStim?
Some patients who have overactive bladder have underlying neurological problems that cannot be addressed by many of the standard treatments, so Dr. Mathews offers InterStim therapy. This therapy works by stimulating sacral nerves, which are located near the tailbone in the lower spine. Sacral nerves control the bladder.
InterStim therapy employs a small device which is about the size of a pacemaker to communicate with the brain, ensuring that your bladder and the muscles that control it are receiving the correct signals that they need to work properly. The device transmits mild electrical pulses to facilitate communication between the brain and the sacral nerves.
The InterStim therapy procedure
When you come to our Dallas urogynecology office for a consultation with Dr. Mathews, he will discuss InterStim® therapy with you, and you can decide if you would like to try an evaluation period. During this time, which lasts from three to 14 days, we’ll ask you to keep track of your symptoms so we can see how InterStim® therapy is working. The evaluation requires that we insert the InterStim device. This is usually done at our Dallas urogynecology office using local anesthesia.
If InterStim therapy is successful during the evaluation period, Dr. Mathews will schedule a procedure to permanently implant the InterStim device underneath the skin of your upper buttock. This is a minimally invasive procedure, again using local anesthesia, at our Dallas urogynecology office.
You can adjust the stimulation of the device, or neurostimulator—turning it up or down, on or off—with a programmer that is similar to a remote control.
Once the InterStim device is implanted, you will always have the support of Dr. Mathews and the caring staff at our Dallas urogynecology office. Medtronic, the company that manufactures the Interstim® device, also has a website that offers many resources for patients.
Patients who come to our Dallas urogynecology office with incontinence and the symptoms of overactive bladder often are discouraged by how their lives are being affected, but they find hope when they see Dr. Mathews. If you’re interested in InterStim therapy, contact us.
