Causes of Incontinence

Risk Factors that can lead to urinary incontinence

• Incontinence affects more females than males
• Older age can cause loss of muscle strength and tissue tension. As we age, the muscles of the pelvic floor and sphincter can become weaker.
• Neurological diseases such as stroke, parkinson's disease, or traumatic brain injury
• Obesity
• Inactive lifestyle or physical immobility
• Depression
• Diabetes
• Scar tissue from previous surgery
• Urinary tract infections
• Tumors near or in the urinary system
• Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (Enlarged prostate)
• Nerve damage - from spinal cord injuries, previous colorectal surgeries, pelvic fractures after falls or car accidents, and shingles
• Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia

Other Factors That Can Lead to Urinary Incontinence

Medications

Some types of medications that you are taking for swelling or high blood pressure can cause incontinence. Over the counter medications or herbal supplements may also aggravate your urinary incontinence. Make sure to talk tol your doctor about all the medications and supplements that you are taking.

Muscle Weakness

Weak muscles that surround the bladder can cause stress incontinence to occur. These muscles, known as the pelvic floor muscles, can weaken from multiple pregnancies, childbirth or abdominal surgeries. Weak muscles cannot adequately support the bladder and can cause urine to leak from the body. With severe muscle weakness. the bladder can drop down into the pelvic area. This is known as prolapse.

Intrinsic Sphincteric Deficiency (ISD) is a condition in which the sphincter muscles surrounding the base of the bladder weaken. The sphincter is the outlet valve or muscle that prevents loss of urine from the bladder. If this muslce is weak, it cannot perform the normal function of closing the bladder off from the urethra.

Nerve Damage

Nerve damage in the bladder area may cause involuntary urine loss. At the bottom of the bladder, there is a sphincter muscle that turns on and off the flow of urine. Our brain tells us when our bladder is full. If there is nerve damage, the signal to the muscle becomes impaired, leading to the feeling of urgency to void, bladder spasms or involuntary urine loss. Conditions such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, or other traumatic injuries can cause nerve damage.

Prostate Disease

Men with prostate problems, such as an enlarged prostate gland, can have problems with urinary incontinence. An enlarged prostate gland can cause a blockage of the urethra (the tube that brings urine to the outside of the body). Loss of sphincter control (muscle that turns on and off the flow of urine), urgency to void, inability to urinate, or constant dribbling of urine are also symptoms of an enlarged prostate.

Poor Diet

Being overweight and having poor eating habits can contribute to urinary incontinence. Consuming caffeine in large quantities is one of the most common ways to irritate your bladder. Certain foods can also aggravate your incontinence - see our treatment page for dietary tips to reduce incontinence.

Urethral Hypermobility

With this condition, the urethra (tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body) does not close properly because it moves too much. The urethra is too loose or hypermobile. When pelvic floor muscles are extremely weak, it can cause the bladder to sag down from the abdomen, and pull on the sphincter muscle at the base of the bladder. The sphincter is the muscle that closes off to prevent flow of urine from the bladder when we do not want to void. Because the sphincter is connected to the urethra, it can pull on and stretch out the urethra, causing incontinence.

Cystocele

A cystocele can occur in women when the bladder muscles bulge or herniate into the wall of the vagina. Urinary incontinence is common with this condition.