Urinary Incontinence in Women Slideshow Pictures Urinary Incontinence in Men Slideshow Pictures Food & Drinks That Make You Gotta Go Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Sandip P. Vasavada, MD

Coauthor:

Raymond Rackley, MD

Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Are there different kinds of incontinence?

Several different types of incontinence have been identified. Stress and urge incontinence are the most common types.

• Stress incontinence: Also known as exertional incontinence, stress incontinence typically is associated with activities such as laughing, coughing, and sneezing can cause urine to leak unexpectedly. This is most common in women and is often caused by physical changes occurring with and after pregnancy.



• Urge incontinence: The bladder feels like it needs to be relieved immediately, regardless of how much urine is in the bladder. Symptoms include needing to urinate immediately (urgency), needing to urinate often (frequency), and having to get up at night to urinate (nocturia). When one cannot get to the bathroom in time and leaks, this is urge incontinence. Most people now refer to this condition as overactive bladder (OAB). Occurring in men and women, this condition is believed to be caused by bladder muscles contracting undergoing spasm at the wrong times. This may be due to a disruption of signals between the bladder and the brain.



• Mixed incontinence: When one person has both stress and urge incontinence, the condition is called mixed incontinence.



• Overflow incontinence: Characterized by the retention of urine in the bladder after urinating, overflow incontinence is most common in men. Symptoms include dribbling of urine, urgency, hesitancy (waiting for the urine stream to begin), weak urine stream, straining to urinate, and urinating small amounts of urine at a time.



• Dribbling incontinence: Dribbling urine immediately after urination is completed is called dribbling incontinence. This can occur in men and women.



• Functional incontinence: When people are physically unable to make it to the bathroom in time due to a physical or mental condition, they are said to have functional incontinence.



• Congenital incontinence: A child born with the bladder or ureter(s) out of place is said to have congenital incontinence.



• Neuropathic incontinence: Problems affecting one or more nerves related to the bladder can cause different symptoms of incontinence. Abnormalities in the brain such as a stroke or a neurological disease can affect bladder function.



• Traumatic incontinence: An injury to the pelvis, such as a fracture, or a complication of surgery can cause traumatic incontinence.