Being a man in a woman’s world has provided me a perspective that not many men are privileged to experience. Yes, I said privileged. Every day in my practice, I meet with a variety of women of all ages, all careers, all phases of their lives and all sizes, shapes and colors.

I have noticed, however, that all of them have at least one thing in common (other than the fact that they are women). They all want to feel good about themselves.

Many of these women come to me lacking self-confidence because of the medical problems that they have kept secret from others in their life. For whatever reason, embarrassment, shame, or pride, they feel that they are not only alone with their issue, but somehow it is almost a disgrace. Urinary incontinence affects one in four women! You are not alone with this problem.

Yet I watch other women who come in with conditions like fibroid tumors, urinary tract problems, bladder cancers–a myriad of conditions, some which require much more extensive medical treatment—and there is no hesitation at telling me, or others, their medical problem. Women with sexual dysfunction have no problem sharing their symptoms; those with painful periods and the inability to empty their bladders don’t hesitate at telling me to “fix” them. But those with a leaky bladder feel like they are wearing a Scarlet Letter – P!

I wanted to share this with all of you who have isolated yourself, who have quit going out on the town, who have stopped dancing with your husband or working out at the gym. For all of you who have stopped picking up your children, who run for the bathroom when you sneeze, and sadly, for those of you who have quit laughing—come in and let me help you. I cannot promise you won’t be embarrassed, but I can promise that I will do everything in my power to “fix” your leaky bladder so you can get back to a normal, enjoyable and happy life. You need to get back to feeling good about yourself. And I can help.