Bladder control – incontinence, frequency and urgency
- Incontinence: Inability or difficulty to control urine. There is loss of urine regardless of the amount. There are two kinds of incontinence. One is called Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) and the other one is Urgency Urinary Incontinence (UUI).
Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI): This usually occurs when external pressure to the bladder exceeds the capacity of the pelvic floor muscles to hold the urine. The examples of this are loss of urine during coughing, sneezing, and jumping.
Urgency Urinary Incontinence (UUI): This occurs when the increased internal pressure of the bladder exceeds the capacity of the pelvic floor muscles and therefore one is unable to hold the urine. This can be related with certain activities, such as putting a key at the door lock or sometimes without apparent reasons.
- Increased frequency: Needing to void frequently with or without a full bladder. This can be caused by incomplete voiding or the changes of the bladder capacity. In general, voiding about 6 times per day and 0 to 1 times per night is what is considered to be normal.
- Urgency: Strong sensation of needing to urinate with or without the full bladder. This can cause leaking of the urine or pelvic pain when trying to stop the leakage.