The unintentional loss of urine is called incontinence. The Health Care Policy and Research Agency estimates that one in four women between the ages of 30 and 59 has incontinence occurrences. However, there are many incontinence supplies available to help you avoid embarrassment. Furthermore, women who suffer in silence because of being embarrassed should talk to their doctor, because most over-active bladder problems can be successfully treated.

While there are several types of incontinence the most common are stress and urge incontinence. Stress incontinence can be caused by sneezing, coughing, or lifting. This happens because the pelvic muscles are weak and cannot hold back urine because of the increased pressure. Many times these incidents are small, but can worsen over a period of time.

Urge incontinence is the sudden, out of the blue urge to urinate. This type of incontinence can result in the sufferer having large accidents. Another common type of incontinence, which is a combination of both urge and stress over-active bladder is called mixed incontinence.

Of course there are other reasons why women can develop incontinence, such as pregnancy, giving birth, being over-weight, menopause, and constipation. For the woman who has lived with this problem for a long period of time now is the time to visit your doctors. There is help and most cases of over-active bladder can be treated.

In many cases women can significantly reduce or even eliminate incontinence from diet and exercise. Many foods and drinks actually irritate the bladder and can contribute to over-active bladder. Your doctor can help you avoid these foods and liquids.

Many women with incontinence will drink less water in order to urinate less often. Certainly you will urinate less, however the urine that you do produce will be more concentrated and can irritate the bladder. To put it differently, drinking less water may actually worsen the problem. Moreover, the likelihood of infection is increased. The fact is, water is the bladder’s friend, and you need plenty of water to be healthy.

Finally, as many as one in four women between the ages of 30 and 59 have incontinence. The most common types of over-active bladder are called stress and urge incontinence. It is also possible to have a mixture of these two types at the same time. This problem can also be caused by pregnancy, child birth, being obese, constipation, and even menopause. Incontinence can many times be treated by diet and exercise. Take control of your life and get yourself to the doctor.