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What Are The Different Types Of Urinary Incontinence

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Treatment Options For Urinary Incontinence

Types of Urinary Incontinence – NMC Capsules

The Urology Specialist Group medical team offers customized treatment options for all types of urinary incontinence. They can recommend pelvic floor exercises to increase the strength of the muscles that support your bladder.

If you have severe bladder leaks due to the collapse of your pelvic floor, the team may recommendpelvic floor reconstruction surgery. They also offer treatment options formens health issues, such as an enlarged prostate thats causing urinary incontinence.

You dont have to be limited by urinary incontinence. Schedule a diagnostic evaluation at Urology Specialist Group today by or by requesting an appointment online.

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What Are The Symptoms Of Incontinence

The uncontrollable leakage of urine from the bladder is the most common symptom of incontinence. Several terms are used to describe other symptoms of incontinence:

  • Urgency: Feeling the need to urinate immediately or very soon
  • Hesitancy: Difficulty starting the urine stream when trying to urinate
  • Frequency: Urinating more often than usual
  • Dysuria: Pain or burning with urination
  • Hematuria: Blood in the urine, which causes a pink or reddish color
  • Nocturia: Getting up during sleeping hours to urinate
  • Dribbling: Dripping or dribbling urine after urination is completed
  • Straining: Bearing down to start the urine stream

Different Types Of Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence can be a frustrating and embarrassing issue for many patients, but help is available. The first step in treating your incontinence is making an appointment with a urologist for diagnosis. There are several different kinds of incontinence, and the kind you have will dictate the best treatment approach. Here is a look at some of the most common forms of urinary incontinence.

Stress Incontinence

If you experience urine leakage when you laugh, sneeze, or exercise, you may have stress incontinence. This type of incontinence occurs when the pelvic floor muscles become weakened, allowing the pressure on your bladder to increase. Childbirth is the most common culprit behind pelvic floor muscle damage, but obesity and certain medications can also play a role. In addition, men may experience stress incontinence after prostate surgery.

Urge Incontinence

Urge incontinence is also referred to as overactive bladder or OAB. It is typically caused by nerve damage to the bladder or other parts of the nervous system or by muscle damage and is most common in people with conditions that affect the nerves, like diabetes or multiple sclerosis. Bladder infections can also be a trigger. With urge incontinence, you will feel a frequent urge to use the bathroom and may not be able to control your bladder and make it in time.

Mixed Urinary Incontinence

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The Different Types Of Incontinence

Unexpected leaks of urine or a sudden loss of bladder control can be both troubling and embarrassing. The experienced urology team atUrology Specialist Group understands how frustrating it can be to live a normal, high-quality life with incontinence issues.

Theskilled urologists offer insight into what may be causing your incontinence issues and what you can do to treat them.

What Is Urinary Incontinence

Bladder Filling and Urinary Incontinence Learn more about ...

Urinary incontinence is the loss of bladder control that causes accidental urine leaking. It affects twice as many women as men because pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause can affect the bladder and other urinary organs. It can happen at any time and is not associated with aging, but it mostly affects older women.

Your bladder holds urine. During urination, the bladder muscles tighten and push urine through the urethra. The urethra muscles relax to let the urine flow out. When the muscles relax without warning or dont work the way they should, urine can leak out.

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Treating & Managing Urinary Incontinence

How different types of urinary incontinence are treated often depends on their underlying cause. The first line of treatment is to try and manage symptoms with lifestyle and behavioral changes such as:

  • Training your bladder by holding it when you feel the urge to urinate
  • Scheduling toilet trips
  • Double voiding, or urinating and trying again a few minutes later
  • Changing diet or fluid intake

Pelvic floor exercises are often used for managing symptoms. The goal of these exercises is to strengthen the muscles that control urination. These exercises are most effective at treating stress incontinence but can also be beneficial to people with urge incontinence. Pelvic floor exercises are often used in combination with other types of treatment.

There are some medications that can be prescribed to help with symptoms. There are also medical devices and injections that can be used to control the flow of urine from the bladder. For patients whose symptoms are not managed well with other therapies, surgery may be recommended.

Alliance Urology Specialists is home to an expert team of urologists that are committed to providing comprehensive care to adults with urologic disorders such as urinary incontinence. If you are experiencing the symptoms of incontinence or another related condition, call our office at 274-1114 to make an appointment.

Physical Therapy And Exercise

Physical therapy can be effective for women in reducing urinary incontinence.

Pelvic floor physical therapists work with patients to identify and treat underlying pelvic muscle dysfunction that can cease urinary incontinence. They may recommend exercises to strengthen the muscles, electrostimulation, or biofeedback treatments. Exercising the muscles of the pelvis such as with Kegel exercises are a first line treatment for women with stress incontinence. Efforts to increase the time between urination, known as bladder training, is recommended in those with urge incontinence. Both these may be used in those with mixed incontinence.

Small vaginal cones of increasing weight may be used to help with exercise. They seem to be better than no active treatment in women with stress urinary incontinence, and have similar effects to training of pelvic floor muscles or electrostimulation.

Biofeedback uses measuring devices to help the patient become aware of his or her body’s functioning. By using electronic devices or diaries to track when the bladder and urethral muscles contract, the patient can gain control over these muscles. Biofeedback can be used with pelvic muscle exercises and electrical stimulation to relieve stress and urge incontinence.

Preoperative pelvic floor muscle training in men undergoing radical prostatectomy was not effective in reducing urinary incontinence.

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Types And Symptoms Of Urinary Incontinence

Bladder leakage is a medical condition shared by millions of women. To better understand bladder leakage, it is important to explain urinary incontinence and the different types of incontinence. 2

Urinary Incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine from the body. UI can be frequent or occasional. The loss of urine can range from a few dribbles to a complete emptying of the bladder.9

There are several types of Urinary Incontinence, including:

  • Stress Urinary Incontinence occurs when urine leaks during exercise, coughing, sneezing, laughing or any movement that puts pressure on the bladder.3
  • Urge Urinary Incontinence involves the sudden and unstoppable loss of urine the sudden urge to go.3
  • Mixed Urinary Incontinence is a combination of stress and urge incontinence.3
  • Overactive Bladder is the urgent need to urinate. OAB can result in urinating with excessive frequency more than eight times a day or more than once at night as well as urgency, a strong and sudden desire to urinate. Overactive bladder is also referred to as urge incontinence.3

What Are The Treatments For Urinary Incontinence

Types of Urinary Incontinence

Treatment depends on the type and cause of your UI. You may need a combination of treatments. Your provider may first suggest self-care treatments, including:

  • Lifestyle changes to reduce leaks:
  • Drinking the right amount of liquid at the right time
  • Being physically active
  • Staying at a healthy weigh
  • Avoiding constipation
  • Not smoking
  • Bladder training. This involves urinating according to a schedule. Your provider makes a schedule from you, based on information from your bladder diary. After you adjust to the schedule, you gradually wait a little longer between trips to the bathroom. This can help stretch your bladder so it can hold more urine.
  • Doing exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Strong pelvic floor muscles hold in urine better than weak muscles. The strengthening exercises are called Kegel exercises. They involve tightening and relaxing the muscles that control urine flow.
  • If these treatments do not work, your provider may suggest other options such as:

    • Medicines, which can be used to
    • Relax the bladder muscles, to help prevent bladder spasms
    • Block nerve signals that cause urinary frequency and urgency
    • In men, shrink the prostate and improve urine flow
  • Medical devices, including
  • A catheter, which is a tube to carry urine out of the body. You might use one a few times a day or all the time.
  • For women, a ring or a tampon-like device inserted into the vagina. The devices pushes up against your urethra to help decrease leaks.
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    What Is Urge Incontinence

    Urge incontinence is the sudden and intense need to go pee, typically felt when youre waiting in a long line for the restroom or stuck in traffic. If you have urge incontinence, you may wake several times during the night to empty your bladder or feel like you frequently need to visit the restroom throughout the day.

    Will I Have Incontinence For My Entire Life

    Sometimes incontinence is a short-term issue that will go away once the cause ends. This is often the case when you have a condition like a urinary tract infection . Once treated, frequent urination and leakage problems caused by a UTI typically end. This is also true for some women who experience bladder control issues during pregnancy. For many, the issues end in the weeks after delivery. However, other causes of incontinence are long-term and related to conditions that are managed throughout your life. If you have a chronic condition like diabetes or multiple sclerosis, you may have incontinence for a long period of time. In those cases, its important to talk to your provider about the best ways to manage your incontinence so that it doesnt interfere with your life.

    A note from Cleveland Clinic

    It can be embarrassing to talk about bathroom habits with your healthcare provider. This embarrassment shouldnt stop you from treating incontinence, though. Often, your healthcare provider can help figure out the cause of your bladder control issue and help make it better. You dont need to deal with it alone. Talk to your healthcare provider about the best ways to treat incontinence so that you can lead a full and active life without worrying about leakage.

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    Other Types Of Urinary Incontinence

    • Overflow incontinence This occurs when a person is unable to empty their bladder completely and it overflows as new urine is produced. It’s often found in people with diabetes or spinal cord injuries.
    • Mixed incontinence You show evidence of more than one type.
    • Functional incontinence This type of incontinence has less to do with a bladder disorder and more to do with the logistics of getting to a bathroom in time. It’s usually found in elderly or disabled people who have normal or near normal bladder control but cannot get to the toilet in time because of mobility limitations or confusion.
    • Nocturia The need to urinate twice or more during the night, usually affecting men and women over the age of 60. In men, nocturia can be a symptom of an enlarged prostate.

    Types Of Urinary Incontinence

    Types of Urinary Incontinence

    The prevalence of urinary incontinence in the United States is significant approximately 17 million people struggle daily with bladder control issues, and 33 million have a condition known as overactive bladder.

    At Arizona Urology, our team of urology experts understands the magnitude of the problem and were here to help. One of the first steps in combating urinary incontinence is to figure out which type you have, which dictates your treatment moving forward.

    To help narrow the field, were taking this opportunity to discuss the six main types of urinary incontinence, starting with the two most common.

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    When To Seek Medical Advice

    See a GP if you have any type of urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence is a common problem and you should not feel embarrassed talking to them about your symptoms.

    This can also be the first step towards finding a way to effectively manage the problem.

    Urinary incontinence can usually be diagnosed after a consultation with a GP, who will ask about your symptoms and may do a pelvic or rectal examination, depending on whether you have a vagina or a penis.

    The GP may also suggest you keep a diary in which you note how much fluid you drink and how often you have to urinate.

    Find out about diagnosing urinary incontinence.

    What Are The Different Types Of Urinary Incontinence

    Urinary incontinence refers to involuntary contraction and relaxation of bladder muscles. This can cause sudden leakage of urine or poor urinary bladder control. It is a symptom of a medical condition rather than a disease in itself.

    Types of Urinary Incontinence

    There are several different types of urinary incontinence.

    • Stress Incontinence: It is one of the most common types of urinary incontinence. It can occur due to sudden pressure on the bladder. This can be caused by movement of muscles from coughing, laughing, sneezing or any physical activity. Stress incontinence in women can also occur due to weak pelvic muscles caused by pregnancy or menopause.
    • Urge Incontinence: It refers to the sudden urge to urinate but unable to control bladder muscles to hold the urine inside until you can use the bathroom. This can occur due to bladder receiving poor signals from the brain. Spinal injuries and other neurological problems like stroke, Alzheimers disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease can make bladder muscles to contract involuntarily. If you have urge incontinence or urgency incontinence, it means you have an overactive bladder .
    • Mixed Incontinence: When stress and urge incontinence occur together in a person, it is called mixed incontinence.

    Timely medical intervention can help in treating and managing all types of urinary incontinence.

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    How Is Incontinence Diagnosed

    Often, the diagnosis process for incontinence will start with a conversation with your healthcare provider about your medical history and bladder control issues. Your provider might ask you questions like:

    • How often do you urinate?
    • Do you leak urine between trips to the toilet, how often does this happen and how much urine do you leak each time?
    • How long have you been experiencing incontinence?

    These questions can help your provider figure out a pattern with your leakage, which often points to a specific type of incontinence. When your provider is asking about your medical history, its important to list all of your medications because some medications can cause incontinence. Your provider will also ask about any past pregnancies and the details around each delivery.

    There are also several specific tests that your provider might do to diagnose incontinence, including:

    While at home, your provider might recommend you keep track of any leakage in a journal for a few days. By writing down how often you experience incontinence issues over the span of a few days, your provider might be able to identify a pattern. This can really help in the diagnosis process. Make sure to write down how often you need to urinate, how much you are able to go each time, if you leak between trips to the bathroom and any activities you might be doing when you leak urine. Youll then bring this journal with you to your appointment and talk about it with your provider.

    Is Incontinence More Common In Women

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    Incontinence is much more commonly seen in women than in men. A large part of this is because of pregnancy, childbirth and menopause. Each of these events in a womans life can lead to bladder control issues. Pregnancy can be a short-term cause of incontinence and the bladder control issues typically get better after the baby is born. Some women experience incontinence after delivery because of the strain childbirth takes on the pelvic floor muscles. When these muscles are weakened, youre more likely to experience leakage issues. Menopause causes your body to go through a lot of change. Your hormones change during menopause and this can alter your bladder control.

    Men can also experience incontinence, but it isnt as common as it is in women.

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    What Will My Doctor Do

    Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms, health history, and personal habits.

    Your doctor will do a physical exam, possibly including a vaginal and pelvic exam in women and a genital and rectal exam in men.

    Your doctor will ask for a urine sample to test for infection and other abnormalities. Your doctor may also take a blood sample to rule out other medical conditions.

    Your doctor may ask you to keep a urination or voiding diary.

    Your doctor may refer you to a specialist such as a urologist for further management of your situation.

    Can Incontinence Be Prevented

    Different events throughout your life can lead to many of the things that cause incontinence. The muscles that support your pelvic organs can weaken over time. For women, these muscles can also be weakened by big life events like pregnancy and childbirth. However, in the same way you work out to build strength in your legs or arms, you can do exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Doing exercises to strengthen your pelvic muscles may not prevent you from having any issues with incontinence, but it can help you regain control of your bladder. Maintaining a healthy body weight can also help with bladder control. Talk to your healthcare provider about the best ways to maintain strong pelvic floor muscles throughout your life.

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