Signs You Have Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence occurs when the bladder muscles and nerves have problems with releasing or holding urine. Common causes of incontinence include childbirth, urinary tract infections (UTIs), menopause, constipation, and excessive diuretic consumption. The condition can be embarrassing when you pass urine in public, resulting in low self-esteem, and can cause severe bladder damage with time. Therefore, you need to get treatment early. Here are signs that you lack bladder control.

Urine Leakage Due to Physical Stress

When you pass urine involuntarily after applying pressure to your bladder, you have urinary incontinence. Activities that can trigger incontinence include:

• Heavy lifting
• Exercising
• Sneezing, laughing, or coughing

These are signs of stress incontinence that are common in people who have undergone childbirth or menopause. The urinary incontinence treatment, in this case, involves kegel exercises, medical devices, and inserts.

Overactive Bladder

When you experience a sudden bladder contraction that causes an urge to pass urine, which you can't control, that's a sign of reflex incontinence. When the need to urinate comes, you have a short period to react and head to the bathroom before urine release. Unfortunately, you may not reach the bathroom in time, and this may be embarrassing. The triggers of the sudden urination urge include running water sound and change in sitting or standing position. Bladder training, Botox injections, and medication such as anticholinergics are common treatments for urinary incontinence.

Constant Urine Leakage

Constant leakage of urine or periodic leakage of large amounts of urine are signs of total incontinence. The condition usually occurs due to spinal cord or urinary tract damage. Also, genetics or the presence of a hole or fistula in the vagina can cause the condition. In such severe conditions, surgery may be necessary to correct the fistula and fix damaged nerves or muscles, restoring your bladder's function.

Further, functional incontinence is common among the elderly, where a person feels the need to urinate but can't use the bathroom due to mobility issues. Such patients may get physical assistance as in nursing homes and medication to help them better control the bladder.

Prostate Problems

Prostate problems such as swelling may block the bladder resulting in overflow incontinence. In return, the body isn't capable of holding the urine your body produces or the bladder isn't able to empty, leading to urinary leakage. In such cases, you may urinate frequently or experience constant dripping or urine. The common treatments for urinary incontinence in such cases include surgery and catheter placement.

Constant urine leakage, prostate problems, overactive bladder, and urine leakage due to bladder muscle pressure are signs of urinary incontinence. Consider getting treatment when you see these signs.