Women's Conditions
Key points
- A woman who has urinary incontinence experiences problems controlling her urination.
- It is estimated that about 10 million Americans have some form of urinary incontinence.1Incontinence is more common in women than men, and you are more likely to develop incontinence as you get older.
- The circumstances and type of problem affecting urination vary with the cause.
- Symptoms of stress incontinence involve the involuntary loss of urine, especially when coughing, sneezing, or laughing.
Urinary Incontinence in Women
• Topic Overview
• Symptoms
• Urinary Incontinence in Women
Osteoporosis
• Topic Overview
• Classification of osteoporosis
• Newly Diagnosed
Symptoms - Urinary Incontinence
A woman who has urinary incontinence experiences problems controlling her urination. The circumstances and type of problem affecting urination vary with the cause.
Symptoms of stress incontinence involve the involuntary loss of urine, especially when coughing, sneezing, or laughing.
Symptoms of urge incontinence include:
- The need to urinate frequently.
- A sudden, urgent need to urinate.
Overflow incontinence symptoms include:
- Sudden loss of urine.
- A feeling of bladder fullness even after urination.
- Loss of urine while sleeping.
- A urine stream that stops and restarts during urination.
- Difficulty urinating even while feeling the urge to urinate.
Symptoms of reflex incontinence include sudden loss of urine.
Functional incontinence symptoms involve loss of urine when the person is:
- Unable to reach the bathroom in time because of difficulty walking.
- Unable to removing clothing in time to use the toilet (such as may be a problem for a person with arthritis).
- Confused about the need to urinate or the location of the bathroom, which may occur because of dementia.
Symptoms of anatomical incontinence include sudden loss of urine.
Who is affected by urinary incontinence
It is estimated that about 10 million Americans have some form of urinary incontinence.1Incontinence is more common in women than men, and you are more likely to develop incontinence as you get older.
About half of people who live in nursing homes have incontinence. Between 15% and 30% of women over the age of 65 have urinary incontinence.
Topic Overview | Symptoms | |
Written and revised by
David Cohen, M.D.
Our doctors write and review articles for accuracy and keep them up to date.
health.am provides general information, not medical advice. Always consult a qualified health professional about your own health.
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