Stress Incontinence vs Urge Incontinence
Did you know that Incontinence is a medical problem and a group of disorders that affects between 4% and 8% of the population, or around 400 million individuals globally. Unfortunately, because this delicate subject can create humiliation, most people avoid discussing it with their healthcare practitioners.
Incontinence is classified into two types: stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence. Some people experience a mixture of the two forms, which is known as mixed urine incontinence.
Stress Incontinence
You probably have stress incontinence if you leak a little pee when you laugh, cough, or run a few miles on the treadmill. This sort of incontinence happens when your pelvic floor is overstressed, and the muscles that support your bladder and urethra aren’t strong enough to keep pee from spilling out.
In women, stress incontinence is fairly prevalent. Not only does the physical stress of pregnancy and childbirth affect your pelvic floor, but many women have vaginal atrophy as they approach and enter menopause. Vaginal atrophy causes the walls of your vagina to thin, dry, and weaken, reducing the support provided to your pelvic floor even further.
Urge incontinence
Urge incontinence, also known as hyperactive bladder, is characterised by an acute and desperate need to pee, even when there isn’t much urine in your bladder. If you don’t go to the restroom soon enough, you may spill some pee.
When your detrusor (bladder muscle) contracts, you get the need to urinate. In a healthy bladder, this happens when your bladder is full. Urge incontinence, on the other hand, causes your bladder muscle to contract before your bladder is full. This might be due to aberrant nerve activity, muscular spasms, or another recognised — or unknown — cause.
If you are having incontinence, you must consult with your doctor without feeling humiliated. The sooner your problem is identified and treatment is initiated, the faster your symptoms will resolve.