Incontinence:

Stress Urinary Incontinence

• The leakage of any amount of urine secondary to the increase of force within the abdominal cavity (intra-abdominal    pressure) putting pressure on the bladder

• Common causes are: coughing, sneezing, laughing, running, jumping, bending and lifting, getting up from sitting

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Urge Urinary Incontinence

• The leakage of any amount of urine secondary to feeling a strong, sudden urge to pass urine

• Common triggers are: running water, seeing the toilet, putting your key in the front door

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Mixed Urinary Incontinence

• The combination of the stress and urge urinary incontinence 

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Urgency/Overactive Bladder:

• This is similar to urge urinary incontinence, but without the leakage

• You may not be able to 'hold a full bladder' or may need to be going to the toilet really frequently

• You may get sudden, strong urges 'out of the blue' which make you race to the toilet

• Common triggers are: running water, seeing the toilet, putting your key in the front door

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Urinary Frequency: 

• Frequency, in and of itself, is not a problem unless it's bothersome to you

• It may be related to large fluid intake in which case we would expect your frequency to be increased

• It can also be caused by other factors, such as urgency/overactive bladder, pressure on the bladder from a pregnancy, enlarged prostate gland, tumour, fibroid or cyst

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Urinary Hesitation and Incomplete Emptying: ​

• Having trouble starting the flow of urine

• May be caused by a bladder or uterine prolapse, tight pelvic floor muscles, enlarged prostate gland, neurological disorders

• Can lead to urinary retention, infection and pain

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Bladder Pain Syndrome / Interstitial Cystitis (BPS/IC):

• This is pain associated with bladder filling, urge and emptying

• You may get sudden urges to pass urine, but unlike urgency/OAB where you need to race to the toilet for fear of leakage, with BPS/IC you need to race to the toilet to relieve the pain

• This is commonly associated with tight pelvic floor muscles and other pelvic health issues such as endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome etc 

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Dysuria:

• Pain when passing urine

• Common causes -  BPS/IC, urinary tract infections (UTI's), vaginal infections, pudendal neuralgia, urethritis (inflammation of the urethra), kidney stones, sexually transmitted diseases, cysts

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