Urinary Incontinence

What is it?
Urinary (yer-ih-nair-e) incontinence (in-kon-tih-nens) is not being able to control when you urinate. People often call this "having an accident" or "wetting yourself". Urinary incontinence is not a normal part of aging as many people believe this is a condition that can be often improved with treatment and many times cured. Over 17 million adults in the United States suffer from urinary incontinence. It affects both men and women. The prevalence increases with age. Many people are so embarrassed about having urinary incontinence that they won't talk to their doctor.
There are different types of female urinary incontinence:

STRESS INCONTINENCE: involuntary loss of urine during physical activity, such as cough, sneeze, lifting, exercise, daily activity
URGE INCONTINENCE: sudden onset of the strong desire to urinate and subsequent loss of urine
MIXED INCONTINENCE: combination of STRESS and URGE incontinence
OVERFLOW / ENURESIS: involuntary loss of urine without any associated urge to urinate or physical activity. For example- wetting the bed while sleeping.
Causes of female urinary incontinence: Following are some of the many causes of Urinary Incontinence.

Causes of female urinary incontinence: Following are some of the many causes of Urinary Incontinence.

• Blocked urethra - from prolapse of the vaginal walls (often described as a bulge from the vagina creating vaginal pressure). The urethra may also be blocked from having previous vaginal or incontinence surgery.
• Constipation.
• Hormones inbalanced in women.
• Being immobile (not being able to move around).
• Overactive bladder muscles.
• Some medicines.
• Urinary tract infection.
• Vaginal infection.
• Weakness of the bladder or the muscles that hold it in place.
• Weakness of the muscles that keep the urethra closed.

Signs and Symptoms: The symptoms of Urinary Incontinence are different depending on which type of Urinary Incontinence that you have.