Urinary incontinence is the inability to control the bladder function resulting in leaking urine.
Urge Incontinence, the urgent need to pass urine and the inability to get to a toilet in time, occurs when nerve passages along the pathway from the bladder to the brain are damaged, causing a sudden bladder contraction that can't be stopped consciously. Overflow Incontinence refers to leakage that occurs when the quantity of urine produced exceeds the bladder's holding capacity. Reflex Incontinence, the loss of urine when the person is unaware of the need to urinate, may result from an abnormal opening between the bladder and another structure, or from a leak in the bladder, urethra, or ureter. Incontinence from Surgery follows such operations as hysterectomies, caesarean sections, prostatectomies, lower intestinal surgery or rectal surgery. Risk Factors Urinary incontinence is a symptom, not a disease in itself.