Simple treatment available at Nuffield Health Exeter Hospital to stop urgent trips to the loo

A new treatment is being offered at the Nuffield Health Exeter Hospital to help people who suffer from the need to go to the toilet urgently. The treatment is nurse-lead but overseen by a consultant for both urinary and faecal incontinence.

Needing to go to the toilet too often is a problem for up to 20% of the population, and many people find it hard to talk to their GP about it.

A radical new treatment – the percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation – now gives patient a new, easier option.

Consultant Urologist Mark Stott said: “This can be real problem for people. There are tablets that can be taken and life style changes that people can make if they are suffering with an overactive bladder or feel real urgency to get to the toilet, but these do not work for everyone. The PTNS is very simple: we put a small needle into your skin just above the ankle and run a mild electrical current through it which in turn relaxes the bladder.”

A patient who recently had the procedure said “It was a problem, and had become more difficult in recent years. The PTNS was easy. Twelve sessions of sitting down reading with a small needle in my foot! Things have become much better as a result and I can now do lots of things that I avoided in the past”.

Paul Taylor, Hospital Director at the Nuffield Health Exeter Hospital said: “Our team of clinicians work hard to make sure that the very best and very latest treatments are available for patient here in Exeter. Mark and his team of nurses do a great job and treat each patient with dignity and individuality.”

For more information about this treatment please contact Debbie on the Enquiry Line on 01392 262110.