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Studies of similar devices over the past 20 years, as well as over 500 clinical studies with the Dr Gyno in Korean hospitals, have shown that pelvic floor myostimulation and neuromuscular re-education can be up to 60% - 90% effective in reducing or eliminating urinary incontinence. 

CEO of Doctors (Co.), Dr. Chung (Chung, Tae Jun), who is also an anaesthetist, developed this pelvic muscle exercise device for home use.  Dr. Chung designed the Dr. Gyno 101 to be a complete personal treatment device and as such can cure more than incontinence; it can also assist in elevating menstrual pain, dysuria, sexual dysfunction, and coitus pain. Dr. Gyno 101 is recommend and prescribed by several urinary incontinence clinics such as Cha Hospital, Eulji Hospital, Yoonho Hospital, and the Menstrual Pain Clinic in Kyeunhi Herb Medicine Hospital.

You could consider incontinence products such as adult diapers and pads, Tena has a range, but imagine lying in bed with that wet warm feeling soon to be followed by a cold sticky feeling.  NO, there has to be a better way. 

Firstly, urinary incontinence is caused by a weak pelvic floor.  There are two types of incontinence, stress and urge.  Stress incontinence generally happens when you sneeze or pick something heavy up, urge incontinence is when you have an overactive bladder and you suffer from frequent urination.  You can start with manual training of your pelvic floor muscles by doing Kegel exercises.  Kegel exercises may help although my experience is that if your muscles are very weak then it may not make a difference.  There is also incontinence surgery, which should be used as a last resort, but is actually one of the fastest growing surgeries in the US.  Then there is my personal favourite, which is the use of electrical devices called a TENS machines which uses electrical pulses to stimulate the muscles in the pelvic floor region.

TENS machines for this use are in the form of a internal probe which is inserted into the vagina which then activates sensory nerve fibres that can facilitate or inhibit a sensory motor response.  Studies of these devices over the past 20 years, as well as over 500 clinical studies with the Dr Gyno in Korean hospitals (my personal favourite of these types of machines) have shown that pelvic floor myostimulation and neuromuscular re-education can be 60% -90% effective in reducing or eliminating urinary incontinence.  The Dr Gyno, with regular use, is a complete personal treatment device and as such can cure more than incontinence; it can also assist in alleviating menstrual pain, dysuria (the technical term for pain or difficulty urinating), sexual dysfunction and coitus pain. One clinical study, using the Dr Gyno, carried out on patients with urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunction reported that an improvement in sexual relations from strengthened pelvic floor muscles was reported both the participants and their partners. The Dr Gyno is used and prescribed by several urinary incontinence clinics such as Cha Hospital, Eulji Hospital, Yoonho Hospital and the Menstrual Pain Clinic in Keyunhi Herb Medicine Hospital in Korea.

Treatments using the Dr Gyno pelvic floor strengthener take about 30 minutes and should be done daily for the first 30-60 days and then 2-3 days per week after that to maintain the pelvic floor muscle strength.  Forget adult diapers, forget surgery, the Dr Gyno will reduce or even eliminate the need to get up several times a night, it will improve your sex life, and generally allow you to live a healthier and happier life… and sleep at nights.

Pelvic floor weakness is no fun at all…ask the 2.5 million women in Australia and New Zealand who suffer lack of bladder control or urinary incontinence.  It is also worth noting that urinary incontinence is not just a problem for the elderly; women, young and old can suffer incontinence symptoms.

There are a number of ways that this problem can be addressed depending on the severity of the problem.  If it is not too severer then you can try manual Kegal exercises.  Kegel exercises tone your pelvic floor muscles. They strengthen the muscles around the openings of the urethra, vagina, and rectum. Just like doing sit-ups, these exercises work only if you use the right muscles, hold the "squeeze" long enough, and do enough of them.

Here is how to do them:

• Squeeze the muscles that you use to stop the flow of urine (but do not do these exercises while you are urinating).
• Hold for up to 10 seconds, then release.
• Do this 10–20 times in a row at least 3 times a day.

Be careful not to squeeze the muscles of the leg, buttock, or abdomen. Do these exercises on a regular basis. After 6–12 weeks, you should be able to hold your urine better.

If you are suffering from frequent urination (urge incontinence) or what they call stress incontinence then you may have to go a little further. One solution is adult diapers, such as Tena, but let’s eliminate this option until we are on our death beds.  Fortunately we are not quite there, so we can explore much more palatable options; firstly we need to train our bladders with either the above mentioned manual Kegel pelvic floor exercises or by using an electrical stimulator such as the Dr Gyno pelvic floor strengthener. The Dr Gyno is a TENS machine (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) which is in the form of a probe which is inserted into the vagina, which in turn strengthens the vaginal walls and pelvic floor area. You need to use a machine like this every day for 30 minutes for approximately 60 days.  The machine operates at different frequencies depending on whether you have urge or stress incontinence.  Generally it pays to use your TENS machine on each setting for 15 minutes or so that way you cover all your bases so to speak.  As well as eliminating the need to use adult nappies or some sort of adult pads or underwear, you can actually improve your sexual health.  Most couples report an improvement in sexual satisfaction and sexual pleasure once the pelvic muscles are tighter, as well it must also reduce the stress and worry of accidental bladder leakage during sex. All and all there is a lot to be said about having a strong pelvic floor... the alternatives are not that great, so time for you to start squeezing and getting going with those pelvic floor exercises.

31 January 2008 the New York Post featured on their front page a group of diaper-wearing Japanese tourists who posed for a publicity shot for adult diapers as a solution to inadequate toilet facilities in Time Square. Evidently in India there are some who consider Adult nappies to be a better alternative to using public toilets because they are cleaner and more hygienic. I can’t imagine wearing disposable underwear on the off-chance that I may not find a toilet or one that is suitably clean.

I have noticed recently that incontinence products such as Tena Diapers are being advertised on primetime television with the ads being aimed at 30 something women. Surely, unless there is something seriously medically wrong,  a woman in her 30’s or 40’s can do some sort of pelvic floor exercise either manually using Kegel exercises or using an electrical pelvic floor stimulator such as the Dr Gyno.  Interestingly by strengthening their pelvic floor, many women (and their partners) report improved sexual health in the form of better sex from vaginal sex due to increased muscle strength.

Bladder weakness comes in a number of different forms; stress incontinence is bladder pressure and is caused by lifting heavy objects or coughing etc and urge incontinence which involves frequent urination.  Some women suffer from both, which I am sure is no fun at all, but like all muscles, the bladder and pelvic floor muscles need to be exercised.  There also lifestyle changes can be enough to help avoid bladder problems in the future. Be sure to:

• Drink plenty of water (enough to keep your urine pale yellow most of the time).
• Exercise and eat a balanced diet to maintain a healthy weight.
• Keep the pelvic muscles strong by doing Kegel exercises regularly
• Quit smoking (to avoid chronic coughing).

In really serious cases such as a prolapsed bladder, surgery can be an option; in fact this type of surgery is one of the fastest growing in the United States.  Surely even this type of surgery has got to be better than adult diapers… even if they are designer adult diapers.