Incontinence affects women almost twice as much as men. Pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, and the anatomy of a woman’s urinary tract are all factors that increase the likelihood of incontinence. Women in their twilight years may experience incontinence more so than younger women. However, female incontinence is not unavoidable with old age. Incontinence is manageable and often treatable, no matter what age or physical condition you are in. In a study carried out by the Medical Journal of Australia it was found that almost 2 million Australian women over the age of 18 suffer from incontinence.

Did you know?

  • Between the ages of 18 and 44, approximately 24% of women experience incontinence¹
  • For women over age 60, approximately 23% deal with incontinence
  • The problem is more common in women than men²
  • Half of nursing home residents have urinary incontinence³

The severity of female incontinence can range between a slight leakage of urine when you laugh, cough or sneeze, to frequent loss of large amounts of urine. Some women think it’s a part of normal development and don’t view it as an actual medical condition, which it certainly is. This leads many female incontinence sufferers to ‘grin and bear’ the discomfort and frequent mad dashes to the bathroom rather than seek help or medical advice. This is a perception that needs to be changed.

To understand the problem of female incontinence you need to be as well informed as possible. To start off this education process, we will be delving into the three main types of female incontinence. The main causes of and treatment of female incontinence will be explored next. There are also detailed pages within the female incontinence section showing how the female urinary system works as well as why incontinence affects women more than men.

read more

Featured Products

There are three main types of female incontinence:

Stress Incontinence: Stress incontinence occurs when an external pressure or force like a sneeze, cough or laugh puts pressure on an already weakened bladder and surrounding muscles, forcing urine to leak out. Generally, this variety of female incontinence only results in small leakages, although, depending on your level of activity, these leaks may be more frequent. Stress incontinence is the most prevalent form of the incontinence affecting women.

Overflow incontinence: You may be suffering from overflow incontinence if you feel that you can never truly empty your bladder and have a constant dribbling or very small leakage of urine at regularly intervals.

Urge incontinence: This is when the urge to go to the toilet is so sudden and powerful that it often allows you very little time to get to the bathroom. As a result, urine leakage may occur. This kind of female incontinence is also known as an overactive bladder.

Your doctor may carry out a variety of tests to determine if you have incontinence, and if so, what variety of female incontinence you have. One of the things your doctor may ask you to do is keep a bladder diary that details how often you go to the toilet and how much urine you expel on each visit. Analysis of your urine may also be carried out to ascertain if you have any urinary tract infections.

Select the right product for your incontinence
Depend incontinence aids