Kovalchuk's Incontinence Information Thread

[Kovalchuk]

Got concerns about incontinence? Does it affect you or someone you know? Look nowhere else. I am here to help.

I have looked around the internet in hopes of piecing together some information about incontinence, in all its forms. The purpose of this thread is to educate those concerned about whether they have incontinence, I've seen a lot of threads asking if X condition is a form of incontinence. (I myself have been guilty of this in the past.)

If you have any suggestions on things to add, please post.

Stress Incontinence

Stress incontinence refers to the leakage of urine due to increased abdominal pressure, which can include sneezing, coughing, laughing, heavy lifting, or increased body strain. (Women suffer from this on a much larger scale than men.) Stress incontinence may occur as a result of weakened pelvic muscles that support the bladder and urethra or because of a malfunction of the urethral sphincter. Kegel exercises can be employed to help protect against this.

Urge Incontinence

Urge incontinence, also known as overactive bladder, is the term for the condition in which the sufferer is unable to realize his/her need to urinate until the urge is very strong, and they may be unable to make it to the toilet in time. (This is also more common in women than men.) This is caused by bladder muscles that contract inappropriately. Often these contractions occur regardless of the amount of urine that is in the bladder. Urge incontinence may result from neurological injuries (such as spinal cord injury or stroke), neurological diseases (such as multiple sclerosis), infection, bladder cancer, bladder stones, bladder inflammation, or bladder outlet obstruction.

In some cases, people may experience a combination of any forms of urinary incontinence, but usually the above two forms of urinary incontinence. This is simply referred to as mixed urinary incontinence.

Overflow Incontinence

Overflow incontinence is caused by the bladder's inability to empty properly, which results in frequent urination and urine spilling over after it thinks it is "done". (This is more common in men than women.) This is an inability to empty your bladder, leading to overflow. With overflow incontinence, sometimes you may feel as if you never completely empty your bladder. When you try to urinate, you may produce only a weak stream of urine. This type of incontinence is common in people with a damaged bladder or blocked urethra and in men with prostate gland problems. Nerve damage from diabetes also can lead to overflow incontinence. Some medications can cause or increase the risk of developing overflow incontinence.

Functional Incontinence

This refers to when there are no real problems in the individual's bladder, but there is an inability to reach a toilet in time. Things that may cause this include full body casts, dementia, and old age. This is most common in the elderly. (Thanks Jeremiah)

Enuresis

Commonly known as bedwetting, this may be caused by the liver not producing enough hormones during the night to alert the person that he/she needs to urinate. It may also be caused by an immature or small bladder, or in our case, extended periods of 24/7 wearing. Genetics, stress, urinary tract infections, or birth defects can also affect it. (It happened to me, but I got over it.) Primary enuresis refers to enuresis not stopped with toilet training, and secondary enuresis refers to where it has started when the said person has not had problems concerning this.

Gross Total Incontinence

This is an inability to empty your bladder, leading to overflow. With overflow incontinence, sometimes you may feel as if you never completely empty your bladder. When you try to urinate, you may produce only a weak stream of urine. This type of incontinence is common in people with a damaged bladder or blocked urethra and in men with prostate gland problems. Nerve damage from diabetes also can lead to overflow incontinence. Some medications can cause or increase the risk of developing overflow incontinence.

I hope this guide proves to be helpful (and possibly stickied someday)! Please comment.

[Kovalchuk]

Any tips or advice, please post and I might put it in. I want it to be helpful. Also, if you like it, feel free to say so, too!

[Pojo]

Didn't you already have this thread before?

[Kovalchuk]

Yes. Modified it slightly. The old one was locked due to inactivity. General consensus is that it's OK to remake a thread automatically locked from inactivity.

[BabyKat]

Originally Posted by Kovalchuk

In some cases, people may experience a combination of the above two forms of urinary incontinence. This is simply referred to as mixed urinary incontinence.

Ummm those two combined are the most commonly combined, but mixed incontinence by definition is just more than one type of incontinence at once.

You can have stress incontinence and functional incontinence for example....Where if you sneeze, you wet, but also if they have mobility problems and cant get there in time they can also be incontinent that way as well.

[Mr Alex]

Stickies for (x=Religious figure's) sakes.

[Kovalchuk]

Originally Posted by BabyKat

Ummm those two combined are the most commonly combined, but mixed incontinence by definition is just more than one type of incontinence at once.

You can have stress incontinence and functional incontinence for example....Where if you sneeze, you wet, but also if they have mobility problems and cant get there in time they can also be incontinent that way as well.

Fixed.

[Jeremiah]

Do you plan to provide information for common causes and treatment methods? Also, information about bladder irritants that may worsen the situation could also be useful.