Types of Incontinence Incontinence can occur as a result of prostate disease or its treatment. Total incontinence is a complete inability to store or control urinary leakage, independent of activity. Stress incontinence , urine leakage with activity, is the most common type of incontinence after prostate surgery. It is usually caused by a weak or damaged urinary sphincter and results in urine leakage when you do anything that strains or stresses the bladder, such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, or exercising. Stress incontinence resolves in up to 97 percent of men affected after radical retropubic prostatectomy, but can take up to three years to resolve.
Urge incontinence causes urine to leak without any warning.
You may feel as if you won't be able to reach a toilet in time. Urge incontinence results when an overactive bladder contracts without your wanting it to do so. Overactive bladder may occur as a result of prostate infection, such as prostatitis , or as a result of bladder lining irritation caused by radiation therapy . The nerves that normally control the bladder can also be responsible for an overactive bladder. Overflow incontinence occurs when the bladder is allowed to become so full that it simply overflows.