Incontinence is the name given to the accidental passing of urine. Despite being embarrassing, it is a really common condition that affects an estimated three million people in the UK.

Whatever gender or age, anybody can experience urinary incontinence, even though it is more common in people that are older. The ailment affects many more ladies than men, and it affects 1 in five ladies that are over 40 years of age.

The kidneys produce urine and it collects in the bladder. When the bladder is full of urine, it empties. When it empties, the muscular wall of the bladder must contract simultaneously as the band of muscle at the outlet of the bladder relaxes. Most cases of incontinence in people are a result of a problem with either one or both of these processes.

Incontinence can display itself in a number of ways. Symptoms can vary from urine leakage during bending over, sneezing, laughing, or lifting, to tiny amounts of urine leaking or dribbling out of the body often & unexpectedly.

If you've got any of these symptoms, go and visit your Dr for diagnosis and advice. Don't be nervous about the embarrassing nature of your problem - the Dr will often see similar complaints.

As we've already mentioned, there's a variety of types of incontinence.

These include:

Urge incontinence, which is when you have the urge to urinate but cannot hold it in long enough to get to the toilet in time. For this reason, urine can leak as soon as you want to urinate.

Reflex incontinence is another variety of the condition & it generally occurs because of a spinal or neurological trauma or disease where there is little or no sensation or voluntary control of the bladder.

A handful of people may suffer from mixed type incontinence, which means that, for example, stress incontinence sufferers may develop other strains of the condition.

There's a vast range of different incontinence treatments available. One of them is bladder training. This treatment requires you to empty your bladder at set times, before gradually increasing the duration between intervals. This treatment needs to be followed for at least 6 weeks to see if its going to work.

On the other hand, your Dr may want to prescribe a course of medicines to treat your problem. HRT might also be useful if you've been through the menopause and have an overactive bladder.

As well as these treatments, there is also a vast range of products available that'll help you to keep your symptoms under control. These include washable & disposable pads and knickers to keep you dry during the night and day, as well as a vast range of bed protection products and toiletries that will make you feel great again.