Types of incontinence

There are several different types of incontinence:

Stress incontinence occurs when sphincter or pelvic muscles have been damaged, causing the bladder to leak during exercise, coughing , sneezing, laughing, or any body movement which puts pressure on the bladder, such as lifting heavy objects.

In women, stress incontinence is common and may occur after multiple childbirth or menopause. Pelvic fracture, radical prostatectomy, or bladder neck surgery can also damage the sphincter muscle and cause stress incontinence.

Signs and Symptoms: If you have stress incontinence, you lose urine when you exercise or strain in a certain way. You may go to the bathroom often during the day to avoid accidents. The following things may cause you to leak urine.

• When you get up from a chair or get out of bed.
• When you sneeze, cough, or laugh.
• When you walk or do other exercise.

Urge incontinence, the urgent need to pass urine and the inability to get to a toilet in time, occurs when nerve passages along the pathway from the bladder to the brain are damaged, causing a sudden bladder contraction that cannot be consciously controlled. Stroke, dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can all cause urge incontinence. It is possible to suffer from a combination of stress and urge incontinence.

Signs and Symptoms: If you have urge incontinence, you start losing urine as soon as you realize you need to go to the bathroom. You may have to go the bathroom very often like every 2 hours even during the night. You may even wet the bed. The following things may also make you leak urine.

• The act of drinking even a small amount of liquids.
• When you cannot get to the bathroom quickly enough.
• When you hear or touch running water.

Overflow incontinence refers to leakage that occurs when the quantity of urine produced exceeds the bladder's holding capacity. It can result from diabetes, pelvic trauma, extensive pelvic surgery, injuries to the spinal cord, shingles, MS, or polio.

Signs and symptoms: If you overflow incontinence, you may feel that you never completely empty your bladder. This causes you to have the following problems.

• Lose small amounts of urine often during the day and night.
• Often feel as if you have to empty your bladder but can't.
• Pass only a small amount of urine but feel as though your bladder is still partly full.
• Spend a long time at the toilet, but only make a weak, dribbling stream of urine

Incontinence from surgery is a transient condition that follows such operations as hysterectomies, caesarean sections or prostatectomies, lower intestinal surgery, or rectal surgery, usually in response to invasive cancers. 5. Functional Incontinence occurs due to other reversible factors, often outside of the urinary tract, such as restricted mobility. Mobility aids can help remove barriers to self-toileting on a timely basis. Other factors such as arthritis, may interfere with managing zips, buttons, and articles of clothing - or moving quickly enough to reach the toilet.

Anal and Double Incontinence occurs when there is a failure of the nervous system and particularly when the anal sphincter has become slack and weak. This is most likely to occur in a frail elderly person or someone who is suffering in the later stages of a disease of the nervous system such as MS. In such cases a person may become double incontinent and lose control over passing motions as well as water.

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