Urinary Incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine where the person urinates even when she does not want to. The patient suffers from a weakened control over the urinary sphincter or even a total loss. This problem is quite common and affects a lot of people. It is much more common among women than men. The person cannot prevent urine from leaking out. Urinary incontinence is classified as follows.
Stress incontinence - Stress incontinence is one of the most common kinds of urinary incontinence, especially in multiparous mothers and menopausal women. 'Stress' relates to increased physical intra abdominal pressure like heavy weight lifting, sneezing, coughing or laughing or even Climbing stairs when the bladder and the muscles in urinary control are placed under sudden extra pressure. Then urine leaks out. Quantity of leak varies from few drops to copious urine leak. This happens due to loss of support to pelvic floor and weakness of the urinary spincter.
Urge incontinence - . It is the second most common type where there is a sudden and involuntary contraction of the bladder wall that causes an urge to urinate which cannot be stopped. The person gets urgency to pass urine, but before he reaches the toilet some urine leaks out.. This might be caused by
Mixed incontinence - The symptoms of both stress and urge incontinence would be present
Overflow incontinence - Common in men with prostate gland problem., the bladder is full and cannot hold any more urine. What ever more urine comming in to bladder over flows and leak as dribbling. Patient mighr feel the pain or
Functional incontinence - The person would know there is a need to urinate but would not be able to make it to the bathroom in time due to problems in mobility. The common causes include:
dementia
poor dexterity
poor eyesight or mobility
confusion
anxiety, depression
Total incontinence - The person leaks urine continuously or has periodic uncontrollable leakage of urine. There might be a congenital problem, a hole (fistula) in the bladder and the vagina or an injury to the spinal cord or injury to the urinary spincter.
What are the causes of the different types of urinary incontinence?
The causes and types of incontinence are closely linked:
1. Stress incontinence:
hysterectomy and other surgical procedures
obesity
age
menopause
pregnancy and childbirth
2. Urge incontinence:
enlarged prostate
neurological conditions, including stroke, multiple sclerosis and the Parkinson's disease
cystitis or an inflammation of the lining of the bladder
Urinary Incontinence 
