Stress urinary incontinence
Stress urinary incontinence is when stress on the bladder causes you to leak urine. This can happen when you cough, sneeze, get up from a chair, run, lift something, laugh or during sexual intercourse.
Urgency urinary incontinence
Urgency urinary incontinence is when you feel a sudden, intense need to pass urine, and leak shortly after this sensation.
Mixed urinary incontinence
Mixed urinary incontinence is a combination of stress and urgency urinary incontinence.
Overactive bladder
This condition involves a sudden strong urge to pass urine which is difficult to control. This may be accompanied by having to go to the toilet more frequently, or urinary incontinence.
Voiding dysfunction
This condition refers to difficulty passing urine or fully emptying your bladder.
Pelvic Organ Prolapse
This occurs when one or more of the organs in the pelvis moves down from its normal position and bulges into the vagina. It can be the womb (uterus) or top of the vagina if you have had your womb removed previously, the bladder or bowel. A prolapse is not life threatening but can cause pain and discomfort.
Symptoms can include
- A feeling of heaviness around your lower tummy and genitals
- A dragging sensation inside your vagina
- A feeling like there is something coming down into your vagina - it may feel like sitting on a small ball
- Feeling or seeing a bulge or lump in or coming out of your vagina
- Discomfort with intercourse
- Bladder or bowel symptoms such as being unable to completely empty or needing to go to the toilet more often
Sometimes pelvic organ prolapse has no symptoms and is found coincidentally during a routine internal examination for another reason such as cervical screening.
Last reviewed: 25 April 2025