AIUG Women's Health Day. Two million women officially suffer from it, but the number of those who remain silent about the problem is not known. Information meetings and personal interviews with the doctors of the Campus Bio-Medico: tomorrow, Friday 11 July, starting at 15.00 pm

 

Rome, 10 July 2014 - It is experienced as an embarrassing problem and for this reason it is rarely talked about. But the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital, on the occasion of Women's Health Day organized by the Italian Association of Gynecological Urology (AIUG), has decided to address the issue. "Prevention and information on incontinence, prolapse and rehabilitation of the pelvic muscles" these are the health topics on which we can discuss Friday July 11, in an information meeting and in personal interviews with the doctors of the Campus Bio-Medico of Rome (Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200 - Trigoria).
 
- Training sessions, open to all women interested in preventing or treating "perineal disorders", such as incontinence and prolapse, will take place at two times: at 15.00 hours and 17.00. The individual interviews with specialists are set for 16.00 hours and 18.00.
 
The initiative, free, wants to break the silence on problems that afflict at least 2 million women in Italy. Figure largely rounded down, because it is based only on the diagnoses made, therefore without counting the many ladies who do not find the courage to consult a specialist, thus ending up living to the bitter end with incontinence.

The onset of pelvic and perineal dysfunctions is typical above all of two phases of female life: childbirth and menopause. During pregnancy, the weight of the uterus, all resting on the bladder, can generate incontinence problems in the same way as overweight. Menopause and aging can instead lead to the disorder due to the loss of muscle elasticity. Then there is the so-called urge incontinence, when the urge is continuous and often uncontrollable. Bladder hyperactivity which can be primary, i.e. due to a physiological dysfunction, or secondary, i.e. caused by diseases, mostly infections or neoplasms. Even stress and anxiety can cause a continuous and not entirely controllable stimulus. Problems that negatively mark the lives of many women, but which can be prevented or solved.
 
Even for incontinence and genital prolapse, prevention passes through i correct lifestyles. Do not smoke, regulate bowel function in case of constipation, go on a diet when you are overweight, avoid heavy work and lifting weights of more than 10-15 kilos without the aid are some general rules to keep in mind. For pregnant women it is also important to follow courses of preparation for childbirth, which make them aware of the perineal muscles. On the other hand, the systematic use of inappropriate abdominal gymnastics is not recommended until the perineum has recovered a normal tone. During menopause, on the other hand, an adequate hormone replacement treatment, gymnastics or perineal self-massage with products that improve the production of connective tissue can greatly help slow down the processes of atrophy of the tissues of the genital system.

But even when problems arise, the pelvic tissue rehabilitation can lend a hand, as an alternative to surgical and pharmacological methods. The path developed by the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital is divided into three phases:

- physiokinesitherapy, which provides real targeted and specific gymnastics in order to strengthen the sphincter and abdominal muscles;
- the rehabilitation or re-education of the patient to the recognition of the evacuation mechanisms;
- electrostimulation to strengthen muscle tone.