Urge Incontinence

You urinate when you want to, right? What happens when you cannot control your urge to urinate and you pee in your pants? Oh my! Guys, this is urge incontinence. It's a condition when the bladder muscles do not contract in the right manner and thus your urine leaks. And it does not matter whether your bladder is full or not. Contraction can also occur even when there's a small amount of urine in the bladder. Women and senior people are more prone to this condition.

In normal condition, the brain gets a signal from the bladder nerves to hold urine before the individual reaches a bathroom. However, in urge incontinence, you can put yourself in quite an embarrassing situation, especially when you're in a board meeting and you wet your pants! Remember, this is no funny situation. It's a serious issue that needs attention immediately. Urge incontinence can be due to infection or stones in the bladder, bladder inflammation or cancer, or outlet obstruction of bladder (in men, it can be due to an enlarged prostate). It can also be on account of neurological conditions like mutiple sclerosis, stroke, or spine injuries. In men, benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) leads to bladder changes that might create an inability to control urine. However, most of the time, it gets difficult to identify the exact cause of this condition.

One of the obvious symptoms of urge incontinence is involunatry urination. In addition to this, you might experience discomfort in the abdomen, frequent urination, and urinary urgency in which you get a sudden urge to visit the loo.

Mostly, physical examination of the patient reveals no significant detail about urge incontinence. The doctor examines the bladder internally. This test is known as cystoscopy. A pad test is done in which the patient is asked to wear a pre-weighed sanitary pad and then exercise. It determines the amout of urine lost during movement. Then there is the post-void residual volume test done to determine the amount of urine remaining in the bladder after urination. Your doctor may also conduct an ultrasound of your pelvis or abdomen.

The other tests for urge incontinence include urinary stress test and urodynamic studies. In the former, the patient with a full bladder is asked to stand and cough. In the latter, the doctor measures the pressure as well as flow of urine. He or she may also take X-rays with contrast dye. Further tests include "Q-tip test" that determines the alteration in the angle of uerthra when the patient is at rest and when he or she is standing. Angle of urethra is significant because any change in the angle that is more than 30 degrees implies the weakening of bladder muscles. This can be commonly seen in stress incontinence.

Kegel exercises, bladder retraining, and alteration in diet are some of the treatments for urine leakage. If the doctor finds an infection in your urine culture, you may have to take antibiotics. So, the next time you see someone wetting their pants, do not poke fun. It can happen to you too. Urge incontinence does not require sympathy, it requires medical help.