Stress incontinence - This is loss of urine when you exert pressure — stress — on your bladder by coughing, sneezing, laughing, exercising or lifting something heavy. It has nothing to do with psychological stress. The problem is especially noticeable when you let your bladder get too full. Stress incontinence is the most common type of incontinence, often affecting women. Physical changes resulting from pregnancy, childbirth and menopause can cause stress incontinence. In men, removal of the prostate gland can lead to this type of incontinence.

Urge incontinence. This is a sudden, intense urge to urinate, followed by an involuntary loss of urine. Your body may give you a warning of only a few seconds to a minute to reach a toilet. With urge incontinence, you may also need to urinate often. The need to urinate may even wake you up several times a night. Some people with urge incontinence have a strong desire to urinate when they hear water running or after they drink only a small amount of liquid. Simply going from sitting to standing may even cause you to leak urine. Urge incontinence may be caused by a urinary tract infection or by anything that irritates the bladder. It can also be caused by bowel problems or damage to the nervous system associated with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke or injury. In urge incontinence, the bladder is said to be "overactive" — it's contracting even when your bladder isn't full. In fact, urge incontinence is sometimes called overactive bladder or irritable bladder.

Overflow incontinence. If you frequently or constantly dribble urine, you may have overflow incontinence. This is an inability to empty your bladder, so it overflows uncontrollably and you leak urine. With overflow incontinence, you may feel as if you never completely empty your bladder — or that you need to empty your bladder, but can't. When you try to urinate, you may produce only a weak stream of urine. This type of incontinence is common in people with a damaged bladder or blocked urethra and in men with prostate gland problems. Nerve damage from diabetes also can lead to overflow incontinence. Some medications can cause or increase overflow incontinence.

Mixed incontinence. This means having more than one type of incontinence, typically stress incontinence and urge incontinence. Usually one type is more bothersome than the other is. The cause of the two forms may or may not be related.

Functional incontinence. Many older adults, especially people in nursing homes, experience incontinence simply because a physical or mental impairment keeps them from making it to the toilet in time. For example, a person with severe arthritis may not be able to unbutton his or her pants quickly. Someone with Alzheimer's disease may not think well enough to plan a timely trip to the bathroom. This type of incontinence is called functional incontinence.