When Your Bladder Won't Cooperate: Understanding Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is the loss of bladder control. You leak anywhere from a few drops of urine to a large amount and are unable to prevent this from occurring. Incontinence can affect anyone at any age, but women are twice as likely to develop it as men, and it becomes more common as you age. More than 4 in 10 women 65 and older have some form of the condition.

At Women’s Health Specialists, PLLC, our team of experienced physicians understands how uncomfortable and embarrassing urinary incontinence can be, which is why we provide state-of-the-art treatments for it. If your bladder won’t cooperate, here’s what you need to know.

How does urine leave the body?

Urine is produced by the kidneys and then stored in the bladder. When the bladder is full and needs to be emptied, the bladder muscles tighten, and urine is forced out through the urethra. At the same time, the sphincter muscles surrounding the urethra relax to allow the urine to flow.

Incontinence may occur when the bladder muscles tighten but the sphincter muscles aren’t strong enough to keep the urethra shut. This produces a sudden, strong urge to urinate that you might not be able to control. This tightening can be caused by coughing, laughing, sneezing, or even exercising.

You may also develop urinary incontinence if you have a problem with the nerves that control the muscles in the bladder and urethra.

What are the types of urinary incontinence?

Women primarily develop two different types of incontinence.

1. Stress incontinence

Stress incontinence is the most common type, and it often affects younger women. It occurs when something puts pressure on the bladder, such as weak pelvic floor muscles, making the bladder and the urethra work harder. 

Actions like coughing, sneezing, and laughing use the pelvic floor muscles; hence, they can lead to stress incontinence.

2. Urge incontinence

With urge incontinence, you develop a strong, sudden urge to urinate, and you may not be able to make it to the bathroom in time. Some women are able to get to a bathroom, but they feel the urge to urinate eight or more times a day. However, they usually don’t produce much when they go. This form is also known as “overactive bladder.”

Older women are more likely to develop urge incontinence, and it often happens when you don’t expect it, such as when you’re sleeping, when you drink, or when you hear or touch running water.

If you have aspects of both types of incontinence, it’s called “mixed” incontinence.

Causes of urinary incontinence

Women are more likely to develop incontinence than men because events such as pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause can cause problems with the nerves and muscles of the urinary tract.

Other causes include:

Being overweight

Having excess weight puts pressure on the bladder, weakening the muscles over time, and a weak bladder can’t hold as much urine.

Constipation

Chronic constipation, or straining during bowel movements, can put pressure on the bladder and pelvic floor muscles, weakening them and causing leakage.

Nerve damage

Damaged nerves may not send signals to the bladder at the proper time – or even at all. Childbirth and conditions such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis can damage the nerves in the bladder, urethra, and/or pelvic floor muscles.

Treating urinary incontinence

At Women's Health Specialists PLLC, we always start with lifestyle changes and noninvasive treatments. These include bladder training exercises (urinating at set times), physical therapy to strengthen your pelvic floor (known as Kegel exercises), and bladder support devices you insert in your vagina.

Several oral medications can help with urge incontinence, but at the present, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved any medications for stress incontinence. 

If conservative methods aren’t able to help with the problem, two surgical procedures are available that can improve stress incontinence symptoms: bladder sling surgery to support your urethra, and colposuspension, which lifts the urethra and surgically sews it in place. 

Another option for stress incontinence is urethral bulking — an injection treatment that thickens tissue around the urethral opening.

If you’re bothered by urine leakage, no matter how small the amount, it’s time you came into Women’s Health Specialists PLLC for an evaluation and incontinence treatment. Call our office in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at 615-907-2040, or send us a message today to book your appointment with us.