Urinary incontinence is very common with studies showing that up to 45% of the population worldwide suffers from some degree of incontinence.

Incontinence is the unintentional leaking of urine.  Often this is in response to an increase of abdominal pressure such as a cough, sneeze or jump.  This is called “Stress Urinary Incontinence”. 

Leaking of urine in response to a strong feeling of urgency is known as “Urge Incontinence” or “Overactive Bladder Syndrome”.   This is when the signaling within the urinary system has been thrown off course and the patient will find themselves frequently, urgently needing the toilet.  They may find it extremely hard or even impossible to hold their urine until they reach the safety of a bathroom.

Sometimes people will have a mixture of these two symptoms   This is called Mixed Urinary Incontinence.

There are many different reasons why someone might have incontinence but pelvic floor weakness is commonly thought to be the culprit.  Sometimes this is the case, however, not always, and its rarely the only reason!  No two women are identical and so a visit to a Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist is recommended to make sure you are getting the correct treatment and doing the exercises for you.