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Stress incontinence happens when the muscle around your urethra gets weak and doesn’t close all the way. Your urethra is the tube that drains urine from the bladder when you urinate. Anything you do that puts pressure on the bladder can cause urine to leak. The leaking stops when you stop the activity.

Pregnancy and childbirth, a hysterectomy, menopause, obesity, chronic coughing, and heavy lifting can add to the problem. Stress urinary incontinence can be caused by prostate surgery or radiation treatment for prostate cancer. These treatments can damage the bladder muscle (sphincter).

This number includes people of all ages. But most people with urinary incontinence are older than 60.

Temporary urinary incontinence lasts only a short time. It's caused by a temporary situation, such as taking a certain medicine or having an illness that causes leaking.

Many people wear sanitary pads or adult diapers. They carry a change of clothing at all times. Millions of people stop doing things they enjoy because they are embarrassed by the odor. And they worry about possible accidents. This makes their sense of shame and loss of dignity worse.

Urge incontinence is also called hyperactive bladder or overactive bladder. This "gotta go" feeling makes you fear you will leak if you don't get to the bathroom right away. It happens when nerves from the bladder to the brain don't work correctly. Or the brain can’t stop the bladder muscle from contracting. This causes the bladder muscle to be unstable. Urge incontinence can be caused by complications from a hysterectomy, urinary tract infection, hormonal changes, or pelvic floor muscle weakness. Bladder muscle can also become unstable by an enlarged prostate or by prostate surgery. It can be caused by aging, anxiety, or depression.

Overflow incontinence means that the body make more urine than the bladder can hold. Or the bladder is full and can't empty, causing it to leak. This can be caused by a blockage that keeps the bladder from emptying completely. It can be caused by a weak bladder muscle that can’t contract enough to empty the bladder. Tumors or an enlarged prostate can block the flow of urine out of the bladder. Some blood pressure medicines can weaken the bladder muscle. Nerve damage to the spinal cord or pelvic nerves can also cause the bladder muscle to weaken.

Reflex incontinence is the loss of urine without warning or the urge to urinate. This type of incontinence often happens when your bladder nerves are damaged and don't communicate with your brain correctly. It can also be caused by mental or physical problems that get in the way of normal signals from the nervous system to the bladder. Nerve damage can be caused by health conditions such as Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, spinal cord injury, and multiple sclerosis.

Many conditions can cause urinary incontinence. These include a urinary infection, drinking too many fluids such as caffeine, constipation, severe depression, and getting too little exercise. The most common cause is a side effect of medicine. Medicines that can cause temporary incontinence include terazosin. This medicine is used to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy. Other medicines that can cause it include oral decongestants with pseudoephedrine, beta-adrenergic blockers given for high blood pressure or angina, diuretics, antidepressants, and antihistamines.

Treatments can include behavioral therapy, urethral inserts, medicines, urethral bulking injections, and surgery. Your treatment depends on the type of incontinence you have and what’s causing it. Your healthcare provider can diagnose the type by using a variety of tests. These include X-rays, blood tests, urine analysis, and a check of how much urine your bladder can hold. They may also look at the condition of your sphincter, the pressure in your urethra, and the amount of urine left in the bladder after you urinate. If you have stress incontinence, you can help control your condition by doing pelvic floor exercises. These exercises strengthen the muscles that support the bladder, rectum, and uterus. Talk with your healthcare provider or therapist to be sure you are doing the exercises correctly. One way to handle urge incontinence is to set a timer and use the bathroom on a regular schedule. This might be a half-hour after a meal, 2 to 3 times between meals, and before going to bed. Overflow incontinence is common in older people. It can be prevented by getting treatment for an enlarged prostate when symptoms first show up. A urologist or therapist can help with this type of incontinence.