|  | Conditions Treatments | Urinary Disorders

What Are the Causes of Urge Incontinence?

Incontinence may cause you to be embarrassed about yourself and afraid to leave your home due to worries about having a urinary accident. The causes of urge incontinence include certain lifestyle factors, underlying health problems and disorders of your excretory system. Consider this information from the Mayo Clinic and the National Library of Medicine about the causes of urge incontinence.

  1. Drinking

    • If you drink too many alcoholic or caffeinated beverages, your body may react by producing an excess of urine and relaxing the muscles of your bladder.

    Hydration

    • Drinking too much water too quickly or being dehydrated may cause you to have urge incontinence as a result of an imbalance of salts in your blood.

    Bladder Inflammation

    • If your diet is heavy in acidic foods and juices, artificial sweeteners, carbonated drinks, or regular or decaf coffee or tea, your bladder may become inflamed, causing urge incontinence.

    Medications

    • Taking medications such as diuretics, antidepressants, sleeping pills, muscle relaxers or local or general anesthetics may cause urge incontinence by affecting your ability to control your bladder muscles.

    Hormones

    • Changes in your levels of hormones during pregnancy, just after childbirth and during menopause may cause urge incontinence in women.

    Bladder Disorders

    • Urge incontinence may be caused by disorders of your bladder, including bladder or urinary tract infections, painful bladder syndrome, bladder stones or bladder cancer.

    Medical Disorders

    • Medical disorders such as constipation, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal nerve damage and prostate diseases may result in urge incontinence.

Urinary Disorders - Related Articles