Is urinary incontinence related to anything?

Written by Wang Shuai
Urology
Updated on January 24, 2025
00:00
00:00

There are many causes of urinary incontinence. For example, the most common type, stress urinary incontinence, is related to the relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles and the bladder's detrusor muscle. Conditions like pelvic organ prolapse, as well as factors like being a mature mother or excessive obesity, can lead to stress urinary incontinence. Urgency urinary incontinence is often caused by severe bladder inflammation or associated with certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes or bladder neck sclerosis. Overflow incontinence, most commonly seen in elderly males, typically results from prostate enlargement that blocks the urethra, leading to urinary retention and consequently overflow incontinence. Therefore, to understand the specific causes of urinary incontinence, it is crucial first to differentiate the types of incontinence and combine this with the patient’s specific situation and related examinations for a clear diagnosis.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
41sec home-news-image

Does spinal bifida cause urinary incontinence during the day?

For patients with spina bifida, if it is occult spina bifida, they generally exhibit nocturnal enuresis, with rare instances of urinary incontinence during the day. For patients with manifest spina bifida, they may experience urinary incontinence during the day. Therefore, for patients with manifest spina bifida, it is usually recommended to perform surgical treatment at an early stage, with earlier surgery leading to better outcomes. It is generally advised for patients with manifest spina bifida to undergo surgery to effectively remove the locally protruding mass and to carefully clear the adherent nerve roots below, while monitoring changes in the patient's condition.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Chen Feng
Urology
48sec home-news-image

Is minimally invasive sling surgery for urinary incontinence permanent?

Minimally invasive sling surgery is generally suitable for patients with stress urinary incontinence. This surgery is usually not permanent, and its specific name is tension-free urethral suspension. It is used to increase the closure pressure of the urethra. Therefore, when the intra-abdominal pressure increases, the increased urethral closure pressure can prevent urine leakage. This surgery is one of the more common surgeries in clinical practice, but over time, various complications related to the surgery tend to increase. Common surgical complications include difficulty urinating, bladder perforation, and corrosion of the vaginal or urethral sling. Over time, the probability of corrosion gradually increases.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Zhou Yan
Geriatrics
53sec home-news-image

What should elderly people do if they have slight urinary incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is relatively common in the elderly. After excluding organic causes of urinary incontinence through examination, we should consider functional causes. This is mainly due to the relaxation of the urethral sphincter, pelvic floor, and the muscles around the urethra, which decreases the urethral pressure. When the abdominal pressure increases, it can cause urinary incontinence. We can improve the muscles of the pelvic floor gradually by undergoing pelvic floor rehabilitation therapy, which increases their strength and improves urinary incontinence. The key to pelvic floor rehabilitation is to provide patients with guidance and exercises for lifting the anus. By persisting in these exercises, the symptoms of urinary incontinence can be alleviated or eliminated.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wang Shuai
Urology
50sec home-news-image

The difference between bedwetting and urinary incontinence

Bedwetting, commonly known as wetting the bed, mainly refers to involuntary urination during sleep. Urinary incontinence, on the other hand, primarily refers to the situation where urine leaks from the urethral opening during the process of cleansing. There are many causes of urinary incontinence, and there are also various types, usually divided into stress incontinence, urge incontinence, overflow incontinence, and true incontinence. Treatment should be based on the specific type and cause of the incontinence. For mild stress urinary incontinence, it can be improved through exercises for the pelvic floor muscles and the detrusor muscle. For moderate to severe stress urinary incontinence, surgical treatment is recommended. If the urge incontinence is caused by an infection, antibiotic treatment is needed.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wang Shuai
Urology
55sec home-news-image

Symptoms of urinary incontinence

The primary clinical manifestation of urinary incontinence is the uncontrollable leakage of urine from the urethral opening. Depending on the specific cause of incontinence, the clinical manifestations can vary. For instance, stress urinary incontinence typically occurs during coughing, sneezing, laughing, or other activities that increase intra-abdominal pressure, leading to uncontrollable urine leakage. Urgency urinary incontinence is commonly seen in severe cases of bladder inflammation or stiffening of the bladder neck, where patients often previously experience significant symptoms such as frequent urination, urgent need to urinate, and pain during urination. Overflow incontinence is more common in elderly men, particularly those with prostate enlargement, leading to urinary retention and subsequent incontinence, often accompanied by lower abdominal pain.