Bladder Control

Overactive Bladder or Urge Incontinence

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Signs and Symptoms

If you leak urine and have sudden, strong urges to urinate or if you urinate excessively, you may have urge incontinence or overactive bladder.

This urge and the spasm of the bladder muscles may occur at any time, regardless of the amount of urine in the bladder.

In many women, there is no known cause. In some cases, the condition is caused by neurological injuries such as spinal cord injury or stroke; neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis; bladder conditions such as bladder stones, cancer, infection and inflammation; and damage to the bladder muscles caused by childbirth, hysterectomy or injury.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated February 21, 2008