Understanding the key differences between these two types of bladder leaks—and why the treatment approach matters.
Not all bladder leaks are the same. The two most common types—stress incontinence and urge incontinence—have completely different causes, triggers, and treatment approaches. Many women experience both simultaneously (called mixed incontinence), making proper identification crucial for effective treatment.
Do you leak when you cough, sneeze, laugh, or exercise? → Stress incontinence
Do you get sudden, intense urges with leaks before reaching the bathroom? → Urge incontinence
Experience both? → Mixed incontinence
What It Is: Leaks during physical stress on the bladder
Common Triggers:
Root Cause: Weak pelvic floor muscles can't support bladder or keep urethra closed during pressure
Best Treatment: Pelvic floor exercises (Kegels), weight management, comprehensive supplements like FemiPro
What It Is: Sudden, intense urges with leaks before reaching bathroom
Common Triggers:
Root Cause: Overactive bladder muscles contract involuntarily
Best Treatment: Bladder training, avoiding irritants, supplements like Bladder Shield or NewEra Protect
Stress incontinence occurs when your pelvic floor muscles—the hammock of muscles supporting your bladder—become too weak to keep your urethra closed during activities that increase abdominal pressure. When you cough, laugh, or exercise, pressure pushes down on your bladder. If your pelvic floor can't resist this pressure, urine leaks out.
1. Pelvic Floor Exercises: Kegels and advanced exercises strengthen the muscles that support your bladder. This is the gold standard treatment with 60-80% success rate.
2. Weight Management: Losing even 5-10% of body weight significantly reduces leaks by decreasing pressure on the pelvic floor.
3. Comprehensive Supplements: FemiPro addresses pelvic floor weakness through D-Mannose for bladder wall support and hormonal ingredients that help tissue health.
4. Pessary Devices: Physical supports inserted into the vagina to lift the bladder and urethra.
5. Surgery: For severe cases, procedures like sling surgery provide structural support.
Urge incontinence happens when your bladder muscles contract involuntarily before your bladder is full. These sudden, intense contractions create overwhelming urges that you can't suppress. If you don't reach a bathroom within seconds, you leak—sometimes significantly.
1. Bladder Training: Scheduled voiding and gradually increasing time between bathroom trips retrains your bladder to hold more urine.
2. Dietary Changes: Avoiding bladder irritants like caffeine, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, and acidic foods reduces urgency. See our foods guide.
3. Targeted Supplements: Bladder Shield calms overactive bladder muscles with pumpkin seed extract. NewEra Protect supports tissue health to reduce irritation.
4. Medications: Prescription anticholinergics calm bladder muscle contractions but have side effects (dry mouth, constipation, cognitive issues).
5. Nerve Stimulation: Therapies like percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) or sacral nerve stimulation calm overactive nerves.
Many women over 40 experience both stress and urge incontinence simultaneously. This is called mixed incontinence and requires addressing both root causes for best results.
Start with the dominant type: If stress incontinence (leaks with coughing) bothers you more, prioritize pelvic floor exercises. If urge incontinence (sudden urges) is worse, focus on bladder training first.
Use comprehensive approaches: FemiPro is ideal for mixed incontinence because it addresses multiple root causes simultaneously—pelvic floor weakness, hormonal changes, and bladder irritation.
Combine strategies: Do pelvic floor exercises (for stress) AND avoid bladder irritants (for urge) for maximum benefit.
Answer these questions to identify your incontinence type:
If you checked 2+ boxes: You likely have stress incontinence.
If you checked 2+ boxes: You likely have urge incontinence.
Checked boxes in both sections? You have mixed incontinence.
For Stress Incontinence:
For Urge Incontinence:
For Mixed Incontinence: