What is urinary incontinence? Forget about the complicated, wordy medical definition. Urinary incontinence is urinary leak at the wrong time and wrong place. The types of urinary incontinence include the following:

Stress Urinary Incontinence

When the pressure in abdomen increases, such as coughing, sneeze, laughing out loud, or lifting heavy objects, and the patient urinates involuntarily. This is one of the most common urinary incontinence and often occurs in middle age or older women.

Possible causes include the loss of strength of pelvic muscle and external urinary sphincter damage. Pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause increase the chances of stress urinary incontinence.

Urge Incontinence

Patients may feel the urgent urination but have no control over the urge, which occurs when central nervous system fails to suppress bladder contraction through autonomic nervous system.

Patients with central nervous system diseases, such as stroke and spine nervous damages, or overactive bladder syndrome often have urge incontinence.

Overflow Incontinence

Urine leak from bladder excessive fullness due to insufficient urination. Prostate hypertrophy can cause urethra blockage and excessive urine retention. Diabetes can lead to bladder nervous diseases and cause bladder to lose contraction functions.

Fistula Incontinence

Continuous urine leak due to bladder fistula (a hole in the bladder). Urine leaks through the hole in the bladder and flow through vagina or rectum.

Fistula Incontinence is often seen in patients who have pelvic surgeries, such as gynecological, urological, colon surgeries, or patients used to have radiation therapy before. When continuous urinary incontinence occurs with unknown causes, there is a possibility of bladder vaginal fistula.