Question

I would like more information about collagen injections and urinary incontinence.

Answer

Collagen injections are usually given around the neck of the bladder in women who have stress incontinence. This is the slight loss of urine that results from increases in intra-abdominal pressure, for example following coughing, lifting or movement. Usually the loss is only small, and it is worse during the day than at night, when increases in intra-abdominal pressure are less.

However, incontinence may occur for a number of reasons, and if it results from some other cause, a collagen injection or treatment for stress incontinence will not help. It is most important therefore to be fully investigated so that a correct diagnosis can be made before any treatment is given. This means that the best person to talk to about collagen injections is your own doctor, or a gynaecologist if you are female. It is important to select a gynaecologist who is a urogynaecologist so that he/she will know specifically about the use of collagen injections in the treatment of urinary incontinence.

Collagen injections are probably not permanent, and may have to be repeated, and they can lead to the side effect of retention of urine. If that occurred you may have to catheterise yourself, or have a catheter for a short period. We cannot emphasise too strongly how important it is to make sure you have the correct diagnosis before you contemplate collagen injections.