Urinary incontinence can have a number of causes, most of them treatable, and the Urodynamics Program at St. Francis Medical Center provides a state-of-the-art way to pinpoint what’s wrong.

"In the old days, before we had (Urodynamics) we just had to sort of guess," said Dr. D.H. Clark Jr. of The Woman’s Clinic. "The testing that’s done at St. Francis helps us to determine if their problem is something that needs surgery or if there’s a simpler method for dealing with the problem. A lot of times there are other alternatives to surgery and that’s one of the good things about the testing."

The St. Francis Urodynamics Program, which brought the first state-of-the-art equipment to northeastern Louisiana, "lets us quantitate, scientifically, bladder function to see why someone" is having a problem controlling urinary flow, said a urologist who practices at the medical center.

The computer used by St. Francis allows medical personnel to simultaneously measure pelvic muscle function, abdominal pressure, bladder pressure and urethral pressure. The system also incorporates a fluoroscopic image.

Patients are referred to the St. Francis Urodynamics Program by a physician - usually a gynecologist or urologist, said Glenda Worley, a registered nurse at the Medical Center. The Urodynamics testing is done on an out-patient basis and the actual procedure takes, on average, one and a half hours. No sedation is necessary and patients are able to leave the hospital and go on with their activities with essentially no residual effects, Worley said.

"There was really nothing to it. There was no pain involved or anything like that and they were wonderful up there," said a 57-year-old Morehouse Parish woman who underwent Urodynamics testing at St. Francis.

She sought testing because previous procedures to correct her problem had not worked. Her incontinence problem had increased to the point that "I could not even walk ... it was just a really bad situation and it had gotten to where I could not take it anymore."

After the Urodynamics testing, she underwent surgery at St. Francis to correct the problem. "It was well worth it. I can jump, I can run, I can skip rope, I can do anything. It’s just wonderful," she said recently.

Experts say the main thing a person suffering from incontinence should do is seek medical help.

"I think some women think it’s a normal part of aging and so they just put up with it, and that’s wrong," Dr. Clark said. As problems worsen, they can keep people from taking part in activities that are a normal part of living. "When it starts interfering with their life, they need to get someone to listen to them. I think the main thing is for women not to be afraid to discuss this problem with their doctor, and if they try to do that and it gets minimized then they need to see somebody else."