Urinary incontinence

Urinary incontinence means you pee by accident. It can happen when you're exercising, for example running, lifting weights at the gym or jumping on a trampoline.

Anyone can have urinary incontinence, though it tends to be more common in women.

Further information about urinary incontinence in women

It's common, but that doesn't mean it should be treated as normal. There are things you can do to lower the chance of it happening and to ease your symptoms.

• strengthen your pelvic floor muscles with simple pelvic floor exercises
• stay active
• keep to a healthy weight
• avoid or cut down on alcohol and caffeinated drinks, such as coffee, tea and some fizzy drinks

The 2 most common types of urinary incontinence are:

• stress incontinence: pee leaking out when your bladder is under pressure (for example when you laugh, cough, sneeze, exercise or lift something heavy)
• urge incontinence: feeling a sudden and very intense need to pee and being unable to stop it

Less common types of urinary incontinence are:

• mixed incontinence: having both stress and urge incontinence
• overflow incontinence (also called chronic urinary retention): the bladder cannot completely empty
• total incontinence: severe and continuous urinary incontinence

See a doctor if you have any symptoms of urinary incontinence, such as:

• peeing by accident
• feeling a sudden need to pee and being unable to stop it

What causes urinary incontinence depends on which type you have. Some things make it more likely to develop, including:

• being overweight
• a family history of incontinence
• getting older (but incontinence doesn't happen just because you've aged)
• if you're a woman, pregnancy and vaginal birth
• if you're a man, having surgery to remove the prostate gland

Your doctor will start by asking you some questions, so they can understand what may be causing the incontinence and how bad it is. They may also:

• try to rule out other things that could be causing your symptoms, such as a urinary tract infection
• suggest you keep a diary of how much fluid you drink and how often you have to pee
• carry out a pelvic examination (in women) or rectal examination (in men), and because this is an intimate examination, there may be another person (chaperone) present
• refer you to a specialist, usually a physiotherapist

Treatments that don't involve taking medicine or having surgery are usually tried first for urinary incontinence. These include:

• treating the underlying cause, if urinary incontinence is caused by another condition
• lifestyle changes, such as reducing your caffeine intake, changing how much you drink, and keeping to a healthy weight
• pelvic floor muscle training: your doctor will explain how to do these exercises
• bladder training: techniques to increase the length of time between feeling the need to go to the toilet and passing urine

Incontinence products (like pads or pants) aren't a treatment for incontinence. But you might find them helpful while you are waiting for assessment or for a treatment to start working.

If these treatments don't work for you, your doctor may suggest other treatments, like medicine or surgery. This will depend on the cause and type of incontinence you have.

It's ok to ask any questions about your care, so you get the information you need.