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About 13 million Americans suffer from some degree of incontinence. Some experts estimate that the true figure may be twice that amount, with women accounting for about 85 percent of all cases.
Urinary incontinence is not a disease, but a symptom with many possible causes. Information gleaned from an intensive medical interview and a thorough physical exam helps our physicians determine the patient's specific type of incontinence.
For instance, when a patient's bladder, uterus or rectum has fallen out of place due to weakened supporting muscles, the condition is called prolapse. Prolapse often goes hand-in-hand with incontinence. In other instances, there is an underlying neurological condition that interferes with the body's nerve communication system, such as in multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease, resulting in the patient feeling an urgent need to urinate.
In addition to prolapse and neurologically caused incontinence, bladder dysfunctions treated at UT Southwestern Medical Center include:
- Bladder spasm
- Low pressure urethra
- Stress incontinence
- Urge incontinence
Please visit the Health Library to learn more about incontinence.
