The Five Types of Incontinence

(Courtesy of the National Institute of Heath)

1. Stress Incontinence

If coughing, laughing, sneezing, or other movements that put pressure on the bladder, cause you to leak urine, you may have stress incontinence. Physical changes resulting from pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause often cause stress incontinence. Stress incontinence can worsen during the week before a menstrual period. It is the most common form of incontinence in women and is treatable.

2. Urge Incontinence

If you lose urine for no apparent reason while suddenly feeling the need or urge to urinate, you may have urge incontinence. The most common cause of urge incontinence is spontaneous bladder contractions.

Medical professionals describe such a bladder as “unstable,” “spastic,” or “overactive.” Your doctor might call your condition “reflex incontinence” if it results from overactive nerves controlling the bladder.

Urge incontinence can mean that your bladder empties during sleep, after drinking a small amount of water, or when you touch water or hear it running (as when washing dishes or hearing someone else taking a shower).

Involuntary actions of bladder muscles can occur because of damage to the nerves of the bladder, to the nervous system (spinal cord and brain), or to the muscles themselves. Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and injury—including injury that occurs during surgery—all can harm bladder nerves or muscles.

3. Functional Incontinence

People with functional incontinence may have problems that prevent them from reaching a toilet. A person with Alzheimer’s disease, for example, may not think well enough to plan a timely trip to a restroom. A person in a wheelchair may be blocked from getting to a toilet in time.

4. Overþow Incontinence

If your bladder is always so full that it frequently leaks urine, you have overflow incontinence. Weak bladder muscles or a blocked urethra can cause this type of incontinence. Nerve damage from diabetes or other diseases can lead to weak bladder muscles; tumors and urinary stones can block the urethra. Overflow incontinence is rare in women.

5. Other Types of Incontinence

Stress and urge incontinence often occur together in women. Combinations of incontinence—and this combination in particular—are sometimes referred to as “mixed incontinence.” “Transient incontinence” is temporary incontinence. It can be triggered by medications, urinary tract infections, mental impairment, restricted mobility, and stool impaction (severe constipation), which can push against the urinary tract and obstruct outflow.