What causes urinary incontinence?
Urinary incontinence is a symptom, not a disease. This means that there are many possible causes of urinary incontinence. The key to treatment is identifying the specific type(s) of incontinence that a woman has through a careful medical interview and focused physical exam. It may also be necessary to perform a special test called urodynamics to diagnose the problem. Urodynamics are necessary if a woman is considering surgery to correct incontinence. The two most common types of urinary incontinence are stress incontinence and urge incontinence. Stress incontinence is urine leakage that happens during activity that causes pressure (or “stress”) on the bladder such as laughing, lifting, coughing or sneezing. Urge incontinence is urine leakage that occurs before a woman has a chance to get to the bathroom in response to an urge to urinate. Women with this type of leakage may also experience frequent urges to urinate and frequent nighttime waking to urinate.
There are many reasons why a woman may leak urine. Sometimes it’s caused by an illness, in which case bladder control returns when the illness goes away. For example, bladder infections and infections in the vagina can cause incontinence for a short time. Being unable to have a bowel movement or taking certain medicines also may make it hard to control your bladder. Sometimes incontinence is an ongoing problem, in which case the cause might be: • the bladder cannot empty completely • weakening of the muscles that help to hold or release urine • a blocked urinary passage • damage to the nerves that control the bladder Sometimes, diseases such as arthritis make it hard to get to the bathroom in time and can make it even harder to control urine leakage.
Urinary incontinence is a symptom, not a disease. This means that there are many possible causes of urinary incontinence. The key to treatment is identifying the specific type(s) of incontinence that a woman has through a careful medical interview and focused physical exam. It may also be necessary to perform a special test called urodynamics to diagnose the problem. Urodynamics are necessary if a woman is considering surgery to correct incontinence. The two most common types of urinary incontinence are stress incontinence and urge incontinence.
Urinary incontinence is a not a disease, but a symptom, with many possible causes. These causes define and group incontinence into different types. Information from a carefully taken medical interview and from a thorough physical exam, can help a physician determine the patient’s specific type(s) of incontinence. Special testing called urodynamic testing may also be necessary to diagnose the problem. Two common types of urinary incontinence are stress incontinence and urge incontinence. CLICK HERE for more information on urodynamic testing. Stress incontinence is urine leakage that happens during activities that cause pressure (or “stress”) on the bladder such as laughing, lifting, coughing, or sneezing. CLICK HERE for more information about stress incontinence. Urge incontinence is urine leakage that occurs before a woman has a chance to reach the bathroom in response to an urge to urinate. Women with this type of incontinence may also experience frequent nighttime waking to urinate.
Urinary incontinence is a symptom not a disease. These symptoms often arise after childbirth has weakened the pelvic support tissues and muscles. There are different types and causes of urinary incontinence. Stress Incontinence is leakage when you lift, bend, laugh, cough or sneeze. Causes can be from a weakness in the bladder neck support causing it to drop from its normal position and/or weakness in the urethral sphincter muscle. Urge Incontinence is leakage when you feel the urge to go. Leakage often occurs while heading to the bathroom. Common triggers include hearing water running or feeling a cold blast of air. Causes can be from the bladder being out of position such as with a prolapse, reduced bladder capacity, obesity, interstitial cystitis, lack of estrogen, weakening of the urethral sphincter muscle, medications and other medical or neurological disorders including diabetes. It becomes more common with aging. Overflow Incontinence occurs when the bladder gets overfilled and
