Atrium Health Navicent Women’s Care Urogynecology has been named an Axonics Center of Excellence by Axonics, Inc. The designation recognizes Atrium Health Navicent and specifically Dr. David Lovejoy for his expertise with sacral neuromodulation and his sincere commitment to changing the lives of women suffering from urinary incontinence and bowel dysfunction.
About 13 million Americans experience loss of bladder control, called urinary incontinence, with 24 percent to 45 percent of women reporting some degree of urinary incontinence, according to the National Library of Medicine. The two most common types of urinary incontinence that affect women are stress incontinence and urge incontinence, also called overactive bladder.
Sacral neuromodulation is a type of medical therapy which, using a programmable implant, delivers gentle electrical stimulation to the sacral nerves that control the bladder and bowel. This can help restore normal communication between the brain and the bladder and bowel, resulting in an improvement of symptoms. Axonics, a sacral neuromodulation manufacturer, reports that 93 percent of treated patients receive clinically significant improvements.
“Urinary incontinence is not a normal part of aging, and it can be treated,” Lovejoy said. “Sacral neuromodulation has proven to be a life-changer for many women in central Georgia suffering from overactive bladder, and we’re honored to be the only Axonics Center of Excellence in central and southeast Georgia.”
Stress incontinence happens when there is stress or pressure on the bladder. With stress incontinence, everyday actions that use the pelvic floor muscles, such as coughing, sneezing or laughing, can cause you to leak urine. Sudden movements and physical activity can also cause you to leak urine.
With urge incontinence, urine leakage usually happens after a strong, sudden urge to urinate and before you can get to a bathroom. Some women with urge incontinence are able to get to a bathroom in time but feel the urge to urinate more than eight times a day. They also do not urinate much once they get to the bathroom. Urge incontinence can happen when you don’t expect it, such as during sleep, after drinking water or when you hear running water.
Incontinence affects twice as many women as men. This may be because pregnancy, childbirth and menopause can make urinary incontinence more likely. Urinary incontinence can happen to women at any age, but it is more common in older women. More than 4 in 10 women ages 65 and older have urinary incontinence.
“Incontinence is not normal at any age, but prevalence does increase as women get older,” Lovejoy said. “Most women suffering from urinary incontinence have had multiple pregnancies or other events that have caused damage to the pelvic floor, such as chronic cough or weight gain.”
The best candidates for sacral neuromodulation are women whose symptoms have not responded to conventional therapy, and for whom a nerve stimulation test decreases symptoms by at least 50 percent.
“If we see their symptoms decrease by a minimum of 50 percent, if not curing it entirely, then they are a good candidate for Axonics Therapy,” he said. “There’s no age limit to who can benefit from this procedure. Our recommendations to have the procedure are based on individual patient indications and if they’ve tried conservative options first, like medication.”
The Axonics Center of Excellence program recognizes highly trained and experienced physicians and clinical practices that are committed to patient education and providing exemplary care to achieve optimal clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Lovejoy has been performing sacral neuromodulation for five years at Atrium Health Navicent Women’s Care Urogynecology, and reports outcomes and patient satisfaction levels are well above national averages and industry standards. Lovejoy is double board certified in gynecology and urogynecology/FPMRS, and is the only Axonics faculty trainer in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
“The quickness in which it works is a big part of the satisfaction levels for our patients,” he said. “A lot of our patients are very healthy and had a great quality of life before these problems. Their incontinence has significantly limited what they can do. For example, they may be embarrassed to go play golf or tennis because they are worried they may have an accident. These are women who have so much potential and life to enjoy and this issue is a big inhibitor of that. Some of them come in crying, and are embarrassed to talk to their doctors about it.”
Lovejoy said he gets immense satisfaction from performing this simple, outpatient procedure that has the potential to change the way women go about their daily lives.
“We just want women to know they are not alone in this,” he said. “They come here and find out there are options. Then, they realize it’s something that starts working that day. It’s very satisfying.”
Atrium Health Navicent Women’s Care Urogynecology provides care for women suffering from pelvic organ prolapse, urinary and fecal incontinence, fistulas from obstetric injuries, as well as those who need hysterectomies and vaginal reconstruction. Patients are seen with and without referrals. The office is located at 682 Hemlock St., Suite 210, in Macon and can be reached by calling 478-633-5300.