Pick of the Season: Tomato Recipes Get Your Dose: Vitamin D Sources
Fareesa Khan, MD
Treatments Work
Don’t Stop for Incontinence
Simply listening to our patients helps us understand how a patient’s quality of life is affected.
About Pregnancy & Birth
Anesthesia for Labor & Delivery
Childbirth Classes - 
Family Birth Center
Natural Family Planning
Pediatrics Services
Perinatal (High-Risk) Center
Special Care Nursery
Breast Health
Bone (Osteoporosis)
Urological Gynecology
Weight Management
Women's Medical-Surgical Unit
St. Anthony’s urogynecologist Fareesa Khan, MD, says women shouldn’t be embarrassed about a common medical problem. “A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that one out of every four women will have some sort of pelvic floor disorder, including urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse or bowel problems,” she says.
That makes pelvic floor disorders more common than diabetes or high blood pressure. While at Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Khan noted in a presentation that 83 percent of women experienced at least one bothersome bowel symptom, but only 3 percent brought it up to their doctor until they were asked. According to Dr. Khan, most people feel little can be done, or that it should affect only the elderly.
A physical exam and sometimes bladder testing or cystoscopy, a process using a small camera to look inside the bladder, are used to diagnose this type of incontinence. “Simply listening to our patients,” she adds, “helps us understand how a patient’s quality of life is affected.”
Many treatments are available, ranging from simple to complex, and including both surgical and nonsurgical options. “Sometimes, women won’t come to see us because they’re afraid of surgery,” says Dr. Khan. “There are so many options available now. They just need to tell someone they have the problem.”
For information, please call our Health Access Line at 314-ANTHONY (268-4669) or 800-554-9550
or visit find a physician online.
At St. Anthony’s, our vision is to be the area’s premier health care organization
— and your first choice for health care services.