If you have stress incontinence, one of the two most common types of incontinence, midurethral sling surgery can offer an effective option, reports Health Cleveland Clinic.

Women with stress incontinence can experience urine leakage because of any increase in intra-abdominal pressure, including a cough, laugh, or sneeze, says Beri Ridgeway, MD, urogynecologist. If this happens a lot, it makes sense to consider the surgery, she says.

A weak urethra that can’t withstand normal pressures leads to stress incontinence. If you can lose weight, this can help lessen it considerably. You can also do pelvic floor muscle exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor, Dr. Ridgeway says.

But failing those solutions, doctors usually recommend what’s called a midurethral sling. This small piece of mesh material goes under the middle portion of the urethra and “provides a backstop,” Dr. Ridgeway says. 

Among the benefits, slings are as effective, or more effective, than the traditional operations. Also, complication rates are lower.

Sling surgery traditionally is not offered to treat the problem of urge incontinence, which is the other common type of female incontinence.

A kind of breakdown in communication between the brain and bladder can cause urge incontinence rather than any anatomical weakness, Dr. Ridgeway says. 

Treatment for urge incontinence can include:

Exercises to strengthen muscles and reduce urge symptoms

Medication

Botox® injections into the bladder

Implanting a small electrode near the nerves involved to help modulate the nervous system activity.