Urinary system: Urinary incontinence

Urinary incontinence happens when an individual involuntarily passes urine. There are two types of urinary incontinence: temporary or persistent.

Temporary incontinence is reversible once the cause is resolved. It can be caused by a number of things, including a bladder infection or after removing an indwelling catheter that’s been placed for a long time.

Persistent incontinence is irreversible. It can be caused by a number of things, such as decreased muscle tone in the muscles of the bladder or the muscles supporting the bladder.

This can occur after childbirth or from obesity. Other causes include injuries or conditions that affect the spinal cord, the brain, or the nerves that control the bladder or even dementia.

Urinary incontinence can be challenging to live with because it can be very embarrassing. Moreover, having urinary incontinence can put an individual at risk for having skin problems, such as rashes and pressure ulcers.

It also puts a person at risk for falling because of rushing to the bathroom to avoid involuntarily losing urine. For the caregiver, the incontinent individual might have specific needs, like needing clothing and bedding changed frequently.

There are many types of urinary incontinence, such as stress incontinence, urge incontinence, functional incontinence, overflow incontinence, and reflex incontinence. In this video, we’ll be covering stress incontinence, urge incontinence, and overflow incontinence.

Let’s take them one by one. Stress incontinence is the most common type of urinary incontinence. With stress incontinence, urine is lost whenever the abdominal pressure is increased.

This can happen when coughing, sneezing, laughing, or during physical exercise. Stress incontinence can also happen if an individual delays going to the bathroom, and the bladder becomes too full.

Factors that contribute to stress incontinence include childbirth, obesity, or loss of muscle tone as a result of aging. It can also happen in biological males after prostate surgery.

Treatment of stress incontinence includes exercises to strengthen the muscles that support the bladder and urethra or surgery.

Finally, absorbent incontinent products can be used to protect bedding and clothing for all types of incontinence.

Next up is urge incontinence, which is a sudden desire to pass urine that’s difficult to delay and is accompanied by involuntary leakage of urine.

It’s common in individuals with urinary tract infections. That’s because irritation of the bladder can lead to muscle spasm in the bladder, which can further lead to voiding the bladder with little to no warning.

Other causes include an enlarged prostate gland or increased intake of caffeine or alcohol. Treatment includes addressing the cause of the incontinence, such as treating a urinary tract infection with antibiotics, lowering the intake of caffeine or alcohol, or treating the enlarged prostate gland with medication or surgery.

Overflow incontinence basically happens when the bladder overflows with urine, causing some of it to leak out. It’s usually associated with urinary retention, which is the inability of the bladder to empty completely during urination.