Understanding Incontinence

If you are living with symptoms that cause frequent trips to the bathroom or uncontrollable leakage, you may be experiencing incontinence.

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Are you experiencing bladder leakage, bowel accidents or sudden urgency and unsure what it means?

Leaking urine, frequent bathroom trips and loss of bowel control because of either bladder or bowel incontinence can be a humiliating and uncomfortable experience. For many, it can be disruptive, stopping you from living the active life you once lived and making you feel alone and isolated. Incontinence is a common condition, with over 5 million Australians experiencing bladder or bowel control problems³.

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What is Incontinence?

Incontinence refers to the involuntary loss of urine or faeces due to reduced control of the bladder or bowel. Incontinence can present in many ways. If you are experiencing involuntary bladder or bowel leakage, you may have incontinence.

Common symptoms of incontinence may include:

Leaking urine when coughing, sneezing or exercising
Sudden, strong urge to urinate
Frequent urination during the day or night
Difficulty fully emptying the bladder
Accidental bowel leakage
Urgency to open bowels with little warning
Avoiding social activities due to fear of accidents

Approximately

1 in 4

Australians are incontinent³

Types of Incontinence

Understanding the type of incontinence that you are experiencing is the first step towards finding appropriate treatment.

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Urinary Incontinence

Urinary Incontinence refers to the involuntary loss of urine. It can range from occasional leakage when sneezing or coughing to a sudden, strong urge to urinate. There are many types of urinary incontinence, including stress, urge, overflow and overactive bladder.

Learn About Urinary Incontinence

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Faecal Incontinence

Faecal Incontinence (FI) refers to the involuntary loss of faeces from the bowel. The extent of the incontinence spans from occasional episodic accidental leakage of stools to a complete loss of bowel control⁴.

Learn About Faecal Incontinence

Did you know that patients can suffer from dual incontinence? Dual incontinence is when a patient experiences both bladder and bowel control issues.

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Dual Incontinence

11%

of Australians have both bladder and bowel symptoms⁵

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When should I seek treatment for Incontinence?

While incontinence can feel isolating, there are clinically proven treatment options available to manage incontinence symptoms, and early assessment may improve long-term symptom control.

Consider speaking with a healthcare professional if:

Symptoms are persistent or worsening
Leakage interferes with work, travel or relationships
Conservative treatments have not improved symptoms

Explore Incontinence treatment options

Reference:

3. Continence Health Australia. Understanding Incontinence. https://www.continence.org.au/incontinence/understanding-incontinence.

4. American College of Gastroenterology. Fecal Incontinence Overview. https://gi.org/topics/fecal-incontinence

5. Continence Health Australia. 2025 Continence Health Australia National Survey (data on file). https://www.continence.org.au/news/2025-continence-health-australia-national-survey

Disclaimer and endnotes:

Results from case studies are not necessarily predictive of results in other cases. Results in other cases may vary.

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