URINARY INCONTINENCE and BLADDER CONTROL

Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence refers to the involuntary loss of urine from the bladder. The urinary bladder normally functions to store urine until one elects to empty it. When this process is faulty one becomes incontinent.

Urinary incontinence may occur at any age. While we are most commonly aware of urinary incontinence in children, the elderly, and some women, it may occur in any sex at any age. It is estimated that over 12 million Americans suffer with urinary incontinence, and that approximately 1/3 of those over the age of 60 are incontinent to some extent. Women are incontinent more frequently than men in the adult group.

Incontinence is not a lifethreatening problem but rather a social problem. It may be very embarrassing and may alter confidence and social behavior. No one is incontinent on purpose.

TYPES OF INCONTINENCE

Urge Incontinence

Urge incontinence is the type of incontinence which occurs when one cannot delay the bladder's message to empty. When this occurs, one experiences "urgency" and cannot may it to the restroom on time. This is the type of incontinence most commonly seen in children who have a day or night wetting problem. This is also the most common type of incontinence sen in elderly. It may also occur in a variety of other circumstances at any age.

Stress Incontinence

Stress incontinence refers to the type of incontinence which occurs with increased intraabdominal pressure such as by a cough or sneeze. It occurs almost exclusively in women and is thought to be due to "pelvic relaxation" (of tissues) from childbirth or aging. Excessive weight can be a contributory factor. Stress loss of urine in men is rare and is almost always associated with surgery or some other trauma in the area. Some patients may have the symptoms or both stress and urge incontinence.

Other Types of Incontinence

Transient incontinence is faily common in the elderly and may be caused by mental confusion, infection, medications, depression, immobility, constipation and more. Overflow incontinence may occur when one cannot urinate, causing the bladder to become overfilled and leak urine. Prostate enlargement may cause this type of incontinence or other urine control problems. Still other contributory factors to incontinence include: neurologic problems, spinal abnormalities, diabetes, and much more.

Evaluation

The evaluation of incontinence should consist of a good history and physical exam. Following this, your physician may elect to perform some simple diagnostic test to evaluate the bladder and the way it fuctions and appears. These test can measure the pressures in your bladder and also allow direct visual inspection of the bladder with a special scope.

Treatment of Incontinence

The treatment of incontinence must carefully tailored to the specific cause of the incontinence. Simple causes such as an infection may be treated easily . Urge incontinence may be treated with behavioral modifications therapy or with certain medications. Incontinence due to prostate enlargement may be treated with medications or surgery or both. Stress incontinence may be treated with specific physical exercises, medications or surgery (commonly referred to as a "bladder tacking" procedure). Recently, injection of collagen around the urethra has been added as a treatment for some types of stress incontinence.

There are many other methods to treat incontinence aside from those discussed above. Certaily one should no suffer silently with urinary incontinence. Again, treatment must be tailored to the type of urinary incontinence diagnosed. Your physician should be able to direct you to an effective treatment for your problem.

Information provided by GU Logic (800) 451-8107.

The information provided in this section should in no way serve as medical advice. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information contained here with other sources and seek medical advice from a physician. Neither the authors nor any other party who has been involved in the preparation or publication of this work warrants that the information contained herein is in every respect accurate or complete and they are not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained for the use of such information.

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