About Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women

ABOUT STRESS URINARY INCONTINENCE IN WOMEN

In women, the normal bladder and how it works

The bladder is situated in the lower abdomen. In women, the bladder lies in front of and is slightly lower than the womb.  One side of the bladder rests on the front wall of the vagina (birth canal) and the lower part of the bowel rests on the back wall of the vagina.  The bladder, womb and bowel are kept in place by muscles called the pelvic floor muscles.

Your bladder is like a balloon.  When it is full it is like a blown-up balloon, the walls are thin and it is happy to hold the contents until you are ready to let go. When it is empty, it is like a balloon you have blown up and then gently let the air escape.  Like nipping your fingers around the balloon as you blow it up, there is a muscle at the bladder neck, which stops leakage, but only if it is strong and well supported, and receiving the correct messages from the brain.

If this muscle is weak it can let you down if you cough or sneeze or exert yourself in any way, allowing a small volume of urine to leak. This is called stress urinary incontinence, a bit like momentarily lessening your grip on a balloon full of air and then tightening your grip once more…too late to stop an embarrassing leak.

Stress urinary incontinence

Stress urinary incontinence is caused by weakness of the pelvic floor muscles around the bladder outlet resulting in urine leakage at the same time as you raise the pressure in the abdomen.  To raise the pressure in the abdomen, all you need to do is, for example to cough, sneeze, laugh, lift a bag or weight, jog or even walk downhill.  This problem may be more noticeable in the days before a period.  The leak is often described as a ‘squirt’ of urine and may be worse later in the day when the muscles become tired. The leak is usually slight, but moderate or severe leakage can occur.

May be made worse by…

Factors, which contribute to the risk of stress urinary incontinence, include pregnancy and childbirth, the menopause, being overweight, chronic cough and constipation.  Stress urinary incontinence mainly affects women but can occur in men.

IMPORTANT: IF YOU SEE BLOOD IN THE URINE, REPORT THIS TO YOUR DOCTOR.

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