What is urology? Urology is the treatment of the entire urinary tract and its disease processes in men, women and children.

Why would a woman need to see the urologist? Women can see the urologist for urinary tract infections, incontinence, voiding dysfunction, kidney stones, or cancer of the urinary tract.

What causes incontinence, the leakage of urine from the bladder? There are many different causes of incontinence. I will go over the three main types of incontinence. One is stress incontinence. That is where one may leak urine with laughing, coughing, or any kind of straining. Two is urge incontinence. That is where one may get a strong urge to go to the bathroom without any warning, and that urge overcomes one’s ability to hold it and can cause leakage. Three is overflow incontinence. That is where one does not empty the bladder and eventually urine leaks out because the bladder can’t hold any more urine.

How do you treat incontinence?   It depends on the type of incontinence. Urge incontinence can be treated with medication. Whereas stress and overflow incontinence are usually treated with some kind of intervention or surgery.

What kind of urologic cancers can women get? Women can get cancer any where in the genitourinary system. That includes cancer of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra.

What kind of urologic cancers can men get? Men can also get cancer any where is the GU system, but in addition to the cancers I mentioned earlier men can also get cancer of the prostate, urethra, penis, and testicles, all of which should be treated by the urologist.

What is a kidney stone? A kidney stone is a little rock that the body can form when the urine is concentrated and a person is dehydrated.   Kidney stones can cause severe pain and discomfort and any person that suspects they have a kidney stone should get to an emergency room immediately for treatment and control of pain.

How do you treat kidney stones? There are two options. If the stone is small enough, and the patient does not have any infection then he or she may pass the stone on their own. If the stone is too big, or if there is evidence of infection, or if the patient is too ill or in too much pain to pass the stone on their own then I can actually remove the stone without have perform any incisions. I remove the stone endoscopically.

What is endoscopically? Endoscopically means that using special surgical instruments, I can remove the stone from inside of your body by going through natural openings, which means that there is no cutting of skin and faster recovery time.

What is BPH? BPH is benign hypertrophy of the prostate. As men age their prostate gland can enlarge and cause them difficulties with urination. As a urologist I can help relieve the symptoms of BPH with either medication or surgery.