Have you ever noticed that you leaked urine on sneezing? Have you ever noticed that your underwear was wet after jumping or laughing? If you have ever experienced any of these situations, you probably have urinary incontinence. 

Urinary incontinence is the unintentional passing of urine. However much they try, the person is unable to hold in their urine. It tends to appear after pregnancy on account of pelvic floor weakening, after the menopause due to urinary tract muscle ageing, obesity and being overweight, from birth defects and/or urinary tract infections. Urinary incontinence is closely related to smoking. 

It can severely limit your daily life.

There are different types of urinary incontinence:

• Stress incontinence: it occurs when the pressure on the bladder leads you to leak urine. This may happen when you cough, sneeze, laugh, do physical activity, etc.
• Urge incontinence: it occurs when you have an (urgent) need to urinate and the urine leaks before you make it to the bathroom. This type of incontinence is usually more common in the elderly. 

It involves the following symptoms:

• The strong need to urinate frequently.
• Foul-smelling and abnormally-coloured urine.
• Low-grade fever.
• Pain or a burning sensation when urinating.
• Pressure on the lower part of the abdomen or on the lower back.

The treatment of mild or moderate urinary incontinence by means of CO₂ laser is performed when the patient has leaks or when the specialist recommends it.

The treatment of urinary incontinence with CO₂ laser is a totally painless outpatient surgery performed under local anaesthesia. It consists of performing multiple CO2 laser pulses around the circumference of the vagina in order to increase the production of collagen in the area, thus allowing us to tighten the pelvic floor again.

CO₂ laser has provided a very substantial improvement in the treatment of urinary incontinence, since it permits direct treatment with no side effects. As we have already seen, besides improving urinary incontinence, CO₂ laser is a tissue regenerator, meaning that it improves vaginal lubrication and mucosal atrophy. It also helps to recover muscle tone, thus making sexual intercourse more pleasurable. 

CO₂ laser is completely painless and the patient can go back to their regular activity immediately, without the need for any rest whatsoever.

The treatment is provided on an outpatient basis and is totally painless, since it is performed under local anaesthesia, meaning that the patient will feel no pain whatsoever during the operation.

The answer is no time at all. Patients can get back to their normal life immediately.