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Medical Author:

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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Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Urinary tract infections

Symptoms of a lower urinary tract infection include painful, frequent, urgent, or hesitant urination; lower abdominal pain; and fever. Urine may appear cloudy and have a foul smell. Blood may be present in the urine. Painful urination is known as dysuria.

Symptoms of an upper urinary tract infection include fairly high fever (101 F), shaking chills, nausea, vomiting, and flank pain.

Bladder control problems

The most common types of bladder control problems for menopausal woman are stress incontinence and urge incontinence. Women first notice stress incontinence as the leakage of urine that occurs with an increase in intra-abdominal pressure such as that which occurs when they laugh, cough, exercise, or even stand up quickly. Urge incontinence, sometimes called irritable bladder, manifests as a strong, sudden urge to urinate. Sometimes women with this type of incontinence feel the need to urinate so urgently that they wet themselves.

Bladder prolapse

The physical problems and resulting symptoms created by a prolapsed bladder range from mild to severe according to the degree or grade of prolapse. Pelvic pain, low back pain, difficulty urinating, stress incontinence, and painful intercourse are just a few possible symptoms of prolapsed bladder. A woman with a low grade of prolapse may experience no symptoms at all. A severely prolapsed bladder can cause painful, bleeding tissue to protrude from the vagina.

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