Another word for urine leakage is incontinence. Urinary incontinence is a condition where control of the bladder is reduced or even lost. Your urine is stored in the bladder and at the end of your bladder is a sphincter muscle. When you tighten this muscle, you can hold up urine and when the bladder is full, you get a signal to urinate. If you lose urine during certain actions or are unable to hold it in, this is called leakage. It can occur because the bladder sphincter does not function properly or because the signal of urge to urinate does not get through properly.

Women:

Urinary incontinence is common among women. 1 in 4 women over 30 suffer from urine leakage to a greater or lesser extent. However, many women see it as a taboo and therefore do not seek treatment. This is a pity, because the treatment options are there. There are different forms of urinary incontinence, each requiring its own approach.

The different forms are:

• stress incontinence
• urge incontinence
• mixed incontinence

Men are more likely to suffer from overflow incontinence, which is when you involuntarily and involuntarily leak small amounts of pee from your overflowing bladder. This is more common in older age. Urinary leakage in men can occur as a result of:

• An enlargement of the prostate.
• Overweight.
• An operation.
• Long-term cough.