| What is urinary incontinence? |
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| Urinary incontinence is when urine leaks unintentionally. It is a common problem and can occur once a week or more. |
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| The two most common types of urinary incontinence are stress incontinence and urge incontinence. |
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| Stress incontinence is when a person leaks urine during an activity that causes pressure (or "stress") on the bladder. This can occur when a person laughs, lifts, coughs or sneezes. |
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| Urge incontinence is when a person leaks urine before he/she can get to the bathroom. The person may also have frequent urges to urinate and wake up at night to urinate. |
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| I can't hold my urine when I get the urge to urinate |
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Urge incontinence, also referred to as an "overactive bladder" or detrusor instability. Urge incontinence is urine leakage that occurs before a person has a chance to get to the bathroom in response to a sense of needing to urinate. A person with this type of leakage may also experience frequent urges to urinate and frequent night time waking to urinate. This type of leakage is usually due to uncontrolled spasms of the bladder muscle. Although there are many potential causes of urge incontinence in a person, usually, there is no specific illness identified. |
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| I Leak when I cough, exercise, laugh or sneeze |
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| Stress incontinence is the term used for leakage of urine that occurs during periods of increased abdominal pressure. Activities that increase abdominal pressure include laughing, coughing, sneezing, lifting, bending, or exercising. Stress incontinence is most commonly related to stretching and loosening of the pelvic floor resulting in a loss of support of the bladder. This loss of support is often related to childbirth, smoking, repetitive strenuous work or inherited tissue weakness. |
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| What treatment options are available? |
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| The choice of treatment depends on the type of incontinence a person has and the severity of the urine loss. |
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| Urge incontinence is caused by involuntary contractions of the bladder and therefore is commonly treated with medications, biofeedback or electrical stimulation to the nerves that control the bladder. |
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| Stress incontinence is due to stretching and loosening of the pelvic muscles resulting in a loss of bladder support, therefore the goal of treatment is to restore pelvic support. Stress incontinence can be treated with pelvic muscle exercises such as Kegel exercises, vaginal weights or physical therapy. It can also be treated with use of devices that "block" the urethra so that urine won't leak out, or support devices called pessaries. Surgery can also be used to treat stress incontinence. |
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| What kinds of surgical options are available? |
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| Surgery can cure most people with stress incontinence. The type of surgery used for treatment will depend on the severity of the stress incontinence. Surgical options now available range from minimal invasive procedures such as the SURx transvaginal system and the tension-free vaginal tape sling, to the more invasive Burch procedure for severe incontinence. |
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| Where can I find out more about urinary incontinence? |
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