Explore Urology & KidneyIncontinence
What Is Incontinence?
Your bladder fills up and empties throughout the day. When it is filled with urine, it expands, and it shrinks when emptied. Some pelvic muscles and nerves control the process of emptying and retaining urine, but when they weaken, the bladder doesn’t work the way it should. When that happens, urine can leak, resulting in urinary incontinence or bladder control disorders.
Bladder control disorders may arise when your bladder muscles squeeze more than usual or fail to squeeze at the same time. If your bladder muscles contract with excessive force, they can overpower the muscles holding the urine inside of your bladder. This results in pee exiting from the bladder, into your urethra, and out of your body uncontrollably. If muscles around the urethra do not squeeze well, you can leak urine when you cough, laugh, sneeze, or exercise.
Bladder control problems can manifest as increased urinary frequency, urgency, nighttime emptying of the bladder, leaking urine or incontinence. Incontinence can be caused by various factors such as weakened pelvic muscles, medication, and diabetes.
Female Incontinence
Female patients most often struggle with capacity issues and incontinence. Our Division of Female Pelvic Medicine deals with pelvic organ prolapse, including uterine, vaginal, bladder, and rectum prolapse, which can be treated with or without surgery. We also treat stress urinary incontinence with pelvic floor physical therapy or surgical interventions.
Other urinary incontinence and overactive bladder conditions may require lifestyle modifications, weight loss, fluid management, pelvic floor physical therapy, or once-a-day medications. Fecal incontinence is treated with pelvic floor physical therapy, while the complications from previous mesh-based surgeries may have to be corrected surgically.
Can We Cure Incontinence?
UConn Health’s Urology Department successfully manages most voiding disorders with a timely diagnosis. We perform various diagnostic and imaging tests to thoroughly examine the bladder, urethra, and sphincters to establish an accurate diagnosis.
UConn Health’s Department of Urology is composed of multiple fellowship-trained specialists. We work with other specialties, such as internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology, geriatrics, and oncology to provide high-level, complex care individualized to the patient's needs.