Incontinence & Over Active Bladder
Incontinence and Over Active Bladder (OAB)
Incontinence is the leakage of urine, feces, or flatus. OAB is associated with frequency, urgency and sometimes the loss of urine. Incontinence and OAB can affect people of all ages. Aside from the physical effects, there are significant emotional, social, and financial impacts on the lives of those who are affected. We invite you to tour our comprehensive online suite devoted to Incontinence and Overactive Bladder.
Common Incontinence Terminology
- Fecal Incontinence - Accidental loss of solid stool, liquid stool, or gas
- Constipation - Variously defined as infrequent bowel movements (< 3 bowel movements per week), incomplete emptying of bowel contents, need to excessively strain to effect a bowel movement, passage of small, hard stools, or need to place your fingers in the vagina or the space between the vagina and anus to effect a bowel movement.
- Urinary incontinence - leakage of urine
- Stress incontinence - involuntary loss of urine during activities that put "stress" on the bladder such as laughing, coughing, sneezing, lifting, etc.
- Urge incontinence - an involuntary loss of urine preceded by a strong urge (also known as "overactive bladder")Dysuria - Painful urination
- Urgency - A powerful need to urinate immediately
- Frequency - The need to urinate more often than normal (more than every 2 hours or more than 7 times a day)
- Nocturia - Waking up frequently (more than once) during the night to urinate
