What are the causes and symptoms of the different types of incontinence?
Patients with urge incontinence may wet themselves if they don’t get to the bathroom immediately, get up frequently during the night to urinate, go to the bathroom every 1 ½ -2 hours, wet the bed at night, and feel they void out of proportion to what they consume. This is due to bladder overactivity, hyperreflexia, and instability. Stress incontinence is characterized by leak of urine with exertion such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, or physical activity. These patients usually leak upon getting out of bed in the morning or when they get up from a chair. This is usually due to urethral hypermobility, intrinsic sphincter deficiency, or stress hyperreflexia. Overflow incontinence is characterized by night time frequency, prolonged voiding, weak and dribbling stream, voiding in small amounts with a sensation of incomplete emptying, dribbling throughout the day, and feeling the urge to urinate but being unable to. This is usually due to bladder outlet obstruction secondary to urethral sc
