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Urinary Incontinence in Women
- Topic Overview
-
Health Tools
- Cause
- Symptoms
- What Happens
- What Increases Your Risk
- When To Call a Doctor
- Exams and Tests
- Treatment Overview
- Prevention
- Home Treatment
- Medications
- Surgery
- Other Treatment
- Other Places To Get Help
- Related Information
- References
- Credits
Stress incontinence
Stress incontinence is caused by conditions that stretch the pelvic floor muscles
, such as:
- Childbirth.
- Weight gain.
When these muscles can't support your bladder well, the bladder
drops down and pushes against the vagina . Then you can't tighten the muscles that
usually close off the
urethra. So urine may leak because of the extra
pressure on the bladder when you cough, sneeze, laugh, exercise, or do other
activities.
This is the most common type of urinary incontinence in women.
A chronic cough from smoking can make stress incontinence worse.
Urge incontinence
Urge incontinence is caused when the bladder muscle involuntarily contracts and pushes urine out of the bladder. Many times doctors don't know what causes this. But sometimes the cause is:
- Irritation of the bladder.
- Emotional stress.
- Brain conditions such as Parkinson's disease or stroke.
Overactive bladder is a kind of urge incontinence. But not everyone with overactive bladder leaks urine. For more information, see the topic Overactive Bladder.
Other types of incontinence
Less common types of urinary incontinence have other causes. These types include:
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: April 11, 2011 |
| Medical Review: | E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine Avery L. Seifert, MD - Urology | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
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