Any leakage of urine is known as involuntary urination or Urinary incontinence (UI). It is a common and distressing problem, which may have a large impact on the quality of life. In women, it is more common than men. Pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause are major risk factors.
Incontinence consists of four main types.
1] Urge incontinence due to an overactive bladder.
2] Stress incontinence, the cause of which is poor closure of the bladder.
3] Overflow incontinence due to either poor bladder contraction or urethra blockage.
4] Functional incontinence, which makes it difficult to reach the bathroom and it happens due to medications or health problems.
This problem must be treated by a urology doctor. Treatments include pelvic floor muscle training, bladder training, and electrical stimulation.
Causes
Stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence are the most common types of urinary incontinence in women. It is said to be mixed urinary incontinence when a woman has both problems. In many cases, during childbirth, the pelvic support structures are damaged and this result in loss of support of the urethra, which ultimately causes stress urinary incontinence. It is characterized by activities which increase abdominal pressure such as coughing, sneezing and lifting and also by leaking of small amounts of urine. Additionally, there may be a development of athletic urine incontinence due to frequent exercise in high-impact activities. The uninhibited contractions of the detrusor muscle cause urge urinary incontinence. An insufficient warning to get to the bathroom in time and having a urine leakage are its features. A urologist can tell the cause in any particular case of urinary incontinence after proper diagnosis. Some of the causes are:
- In men above the age of 40, the most common cause of incontinence is an enlarged prostate. Incontinence can sometimes be associated with prostate cancer and also drugs or radiation used to treat it.
- There is an interference of disorders like multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, Parkinson’s disease, strokes and spinal cord injury with nerve function of the bladder.
- A radical prostatectomy procedure is also likely to result in an outcome of urinary incontinence.
- After giving birth, UI is experienced by about 33% of all women. In comparison to women giving birth via a Caesarean section, the chance of having urinary incontinence is double in women who deliver vaginally.
Treatments
There is a wide range of treatment options available such as conservative treatment, behaviour management, bladder retraining, pelvic floor therapy, collecting devices (for men), fixer-occluder devices for incontinence (in men), medications and surgery.
