Girl Problems

In this series of podcasts discussing pelvic floor health issues that commonly affect women, Dr. South discusses the definition of a specific condition, the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options available to women. You will hear directly from her patients how these conditions make them feel and how they affect their lives. Musical Credit: “Cheery Monday” by Kevin MacLeod (2017)

Listen to this debut episode to learn about pelvic organ prolapse. Dr. South defines pelvic organ prolapse and explains the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options. She interviews real patients from her practice so other women can hear their experiences and know they are not alone!

In recognition of National Bladder Awareness month, this episode discusses Overactive Bladder. Dr. South discusses the definition of OAB, the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options available to women. You will hear directly from her patients how these conditions make them feel and how they affect their lives.

In your body, certain chemicals travel from nerve cells to muscle cells to make your bladder contract so that you can urinate. For people who have OAB, these muscles contract uncontrollably, creating leakage, the sudden strong need to go, and going too often. BOTOX® is placed directly in the bladder muscle, helping block the nerve signals that trigger OAB. In this episode, Dr. South discusses the use of BOTOX® for the treatment of OAB. You will hear her patients talk about their experience with this treatment option.

In this episode of Girl Problems, Dr. South discusses a form of bladder leakage called stress urinary incontinence. Female stress incontinence is very common and can affect women of all ages. The symptoms include uncontrolled bladder leakage with cough, laugh, sneeze, and other activities that create pressure on the bladder. You will learn about how stress incontinence is diagnosed, hear real women talk about their symptoms, and learn about treatment options.

Urinary tract infections affect women of all ages and all stages of life. We see UTIs in young, healthy women both sexually active and not and in older, postmenopausal women. The evaluation and treatment of UTI cost more than 2 billion dollars a year in the United States. Women who experience recurrent UTI find this condition very distressing. Dr. South discusses the diagnosis and treatment of recurrent urinary tract in this episode of Girl Problems.

Overactive Bladder is a combination of symptoms, including urinary frequency, urgency, and urinary urge incontinence. Bladder function involves the coordination of the brain and muscles through our nerve signals. With an overactive bladder, regardless of what our brain wants our bladder to do, our bladder has a mind of its own and contracts at inopportune times. Medtronic Bladder Control Therapy delivered by the InterStim™ systems uses gentle nerve stimulation to correct the bladder-brain communication pathway and restore bladder function. This therapy provides relief and restores bladder function by gently stimulating the sacral nerves. In this episode, Dr. South explains why, where, and how the device is placed and what it can do to help control your bladder.