Understanding Urinary Incontinence Types

There are a few different types of urinary incontinence, split into groups by cause and effect.

Urge urinary incontinence

The sudden and strong urge to urinate, caused by a bladder spasm, is called urge urinary incontinence. ^1,2This spasm can cause leaking of urine, either a lot or a little. Urination can become uncontrollable, you may need to urinate quite often, and often this urge is sudden.^3,4

The cause of the spasm may be a fright, but it can be caused by infections or other health conditions that alter the messages your bladder muscles get.

Stress urinary incontinence

When you cough, laugh or lift something heavy, a little bit of urine may escape from your bladder.^5,6

This is called ‘stress’ urinary incontinence because the leaking of urine requires some form of stress or pressure applied to the bladder before urine will leak.

References

1.
Wood LN, Anger JT. Urinary incontinence in women. BMJ. Published online September 15, 2014:g4531-g4531. doi:10.1136/bmj.g4531
2.
Jäger W, Mirenska O, Brügge S. Surgical Treatment of Mixed and Urge Urinary Incontinence in Women. Gynecol Obstet Invest. Published online 2012:157-164. doi:10.1159/000339972
3.
Aoki Y, Brown HW, Brubaker L, Cornu JN, Daly JO, Cartwright R. Urinary incontinence in women. Nat Rev Dis Primers. Published online July 6, 2017. doi:10.1038/nrdp.2017.42
4.
Morris CL. Urge urinary incontinence and the brain factor. Neurourology and Urodynamics. Published online November 28, 2012:441-448. doi:10.1002/nau.22357
5.
Magon N, Kalra B, Malik S, Chauhan M. Stress urinary incontinence: What, when, why, and then what? J Mid-life Health. Published online 2011:57. doi:10.4103/0976-7800.92525
6.
Avery JC, Stocks NP, Duggan P, et al. Identifying the quality of life effects of urinary incontinence with depression in an Australian population. BMC Urol. Published online February 16, 2013. doi:10.1186/1471-2490-13-11