How to Distinguish Between Stress and Urge Urinary Incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is a common complaint that can affect women’s daily life and social comfort. People can sometimes have difficulty describing when incontinence occurs. However, the situation in which the incontinence occurs helps distinguish the stress type, compression type or mixed type in the evaluation.

What is Stress Urinary Incontinence?

Stress urinary incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine when intra-bladder pressure increases. You may leak a few drops or more when coughing, sneezing, laughing, climbing stairs, running or lifting weights.

Pregnancy and childbirth, weakness in the pelvic floor muscles, changes in tissues with age, and some surgical histories may be associated with stress incontinence. These statements do not indicate the same reason for everyone; Evaluation by examination is required.

What is Urinary Urinary Incontinence?

In urge urinary incontinence, there is a sudden, strong and difficult-to-delay feeling of urination. A person may miss the toilet before reaching it. It may also be accompanied by frequent urination and waking up to urinate at night.

Overactive bladder, urinary tract infection, some medications, caffeine or other bladder problems may cause similar complaints. Therefore, it is not correct to interpret it simply as “my bladder is small”.

How to Distinguish Stress and Compression Type?

Feature	Stress type	Urge type
Trigger	Cough, laughing, movement, sports	Sudden and strong feeling of urination
Leak time	With increased pressure	Before reaching the toilet or after sudden urge
Accompanying condition	Pelvic floor weakness or birth history	Frequent urination, night urination, feeling that cannot be postponed

Both types can be seen at the same time; This is called mixed urinary incontinence. Noting when symptoms occur during the day can help the physician evaluate.

What is Done in Evaluation?

History, physical examination, urinalysis and, if necessary, a bladder diary can be used in evaluation. Physician; can obtain information about fluid consumption, toilet frequency, amount of incontinence, birth history and medications used.

If there is burning during urination, bleeding, fever, lower back pain or new onset of sudden incontinence, causes such as urinary tract infection should also be investigated.

When to Consult a Physician?

If urinary incontinence is recurring, affects sports or social life, wakes up at night, or is accompanied by sudden urgency, an evaluation may be performed. Missing is nothing to be ashamed of; Once the cause is determined, treatment options can be planned individually. For

urinary incontinence treatment options, visit our urinary incontinence treatment page. .

Frequently Asked Questions

Which type of urinary incontinence occurs when coughing?

Incontinence occurring with coughing, sneezing, laughing, or exercise may be compatible with stress urinary incontinence. Examination is required for definitive evaluation.

What does it mean when you suddenly get stuck and cannot reach the toilet?

This condition may be associated with urge urinary incontinence. If there is frequent urination or nocturnal urination, it should be evaluated separately.

Do stress and compression types occur in the same person?

Yes. The situation where both types of symptoms occur together is called mixed type urinary incontinence.

Does urinary incontinence go away on its own?

Depends on the cause. In case of recurrent or life-affecting incontinence, it is more appropriate to get an evaluation rather than waiting.

References

1. ACOG – Urinary Incontinence
2. ACOG – Surgery for Stress Urinary Incontinence

This article has been prepared for general information purposes. It is not a substitute for examination, diagnosis or personalized treatment advice.