Incontinence: Meaning, Causes and Treatments

incontinence meaning

If you or someone you know suffers from urinary incontinence, this article will help you understand the incontinence meaning, its causes, types, and effective treatments. With the right knowledge and proactive steps, incontinence can be managed to improve quality of life.

What is Urinary Incontinence?

Urinary incontinence refers to the involuntary loss of urine when a person cannot control the bladder. It can range from minor leaks to a complete loss of bladder control. While it affects both men and women, it is more common in women due to life events such as pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause, which can weaken the pelvic floor muscles.

Incontinence can occur at any age but is more prevalent in older adults. In women, hormonal changes during menopause also contribute to bladder control issues.

Understanding the incontinence meaning is the first step toward finding solutions for this condition, which can impact autonomy, self-esteem, and daily life.

Causes of Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence happens when the muscles controlling the bladder and urethra are weakened. Normally, the bladder stores urine, and the sphincter muscle controls the release of urine through the urethra. However, when these muscles are weakened, involuntary leakage can occur.

In women, common causes include:

  • Pregnancy: The growing belly puts pressure on the bladder, weakening the pelvic floor.
  • Childbirth: Damage to the muscles and nerves during delivery.
  • Menopause: Hormonal changes, particularly low estrogen, which weakens the urethra.

For men, incontinence is often linked to prostate surgery. Other causes in both men and women include:

  • Obesity: Extra pressure on the bladder.
  • Chronic constipation: Straining can weaken pelvic muscles.
  • Nerve damage: From conditions like diabetes or stroke.
  • Smoking: Can cause chronic coughing, which worsens incontinence.

Symptoms of Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence itself is a symptom of underlying issues such as weak pelvic floor muscles. Other common symptoms include:

  • Frequent urges to urinate, often more than eight times a day.
  • Leaking urine during physical activities or when sneezing, coughing, or laughing.
  • Involuntary leaks during sleep.

Types of Urinary Incontinence

There are three main types of urinary incontinence:

  1. Stress Incontinence:
    The most common type in women, caused by pressure on the bladder when the pelvic floor muscles are weakened. It often happens during activities that require muscle engagement, like sneezing, coughing, or exercising.
  2. Urge Incontinence (Overactive Bladder):
    Characterized by a sudden, uncontrollable urge to urinate, even when the bladder isn’t full. This type is more common in older adults and may cause frequent, small amounts of urination.
  3. Mixed Incontinence:
    A combination of both stress and urge incontinence, often triggered by physical activities and sudden urges to urinate.

Managing and Treating Urinary Incontinence

Understanding the incontinence meaning is essential to finding appropriate treatments. Various options are available based on the patient’s specific needs, including:

  • Pelvic Floor Exercises (Kegels): Strengthening the pelvic muscles can help regain control.
  • Weight Loss: Reducing pressure on the bladder may improve symptoms.
  • Bladder Training: Scheduling trips to the bathroom to gradually extend the time between urinations.
  • Medications: Incontinence medication is only for overactive bladder and unfortunately has bad side effects.
  • Botox: Injections to relax the bladder.
  • Neuromuscular Stimulation: Uses electrical pulses to strengthen pelvic muscles and improve bladder control.

At Elitone, we offer FDA-approved medical devices for women, providing effective, non-invasive incontinence treatments based on electrical stimulation technology. These include:

  • Elitone: An external device that provides gentle neuromuscular stimulation to tone the pelvic floor muscles, helping reduce leaks from stress incontinence.
  • Elitone URGE: Designed for urge incontinence, it sends calming signals to the bladder, reducing the urgency to urinate.

Both devices offer discreet, comfortable treatment options you can use during daily activities.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How can I prevent bladder weakness?
Maintaining a healthy weight and incorporating fiber-rich foods to prevent constipation are key. Regular Kegel exercises strengthen the pelvic floor and help maintain bladder control.

2. Can urinary incontinence be cured?
Yes! Early intervention and the right treatments can significantly reduce or even eliminate incontinence symptoms.

3. Incontinence meaning if you are older?
No, while it’s more common in older adults, it is not an inevitable part of aging. Incontinence can often be prevented or treated with proper care. Older people do tend to be more bothered by overactive bladder.

4. Can smoking worsen incontinence?
Yes, quitting smoking can reduce coughing, which is linked to stress incontinence.

5. Are there any medical conditions that worsen incontinence?
Yes, diabetes, for instance, can lead to bladder issues, including overflow incontinence.

6. Incontinence meaning if you don’t want surgery or medication?

Thankfully, there are new non-invasive treatments for stress or urge incontinence such as Elitone and Elitone URGE.


By understanding the incontinence meaning and the available treatment options like Elitone and Elitone URGE, you can take control of your condition and improve your quality of life.

Don't let leaks stop you from enjoying the outdoors! Try Elitone to stop those leaks.

Elitone: A Pelvic Floor Exerciser for Perimenopause Bladder Problems Treatment

Elitone is an FDA-cleared device for toning your pelvic floor muscles.  This external treatment device is non-invasive and discreet.  Elitone can help reduce leaks and sudden urges to urinate.  Improve your bladder function naturally, without medication or surgery in as little as six weeks!  Don’t let the symptoms of perimenopause keep you from living a life free from leaks or inconvenient urges!

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