Does coughing, sneezing, or laughing too much cause you to leak urine? You might be experiencing a urinary problem which is the most common form of incontinence in women. Incontinence is defined as an involuntary loss of urine that is enough to cause a social or hygiene concern. Urine is produced by the kidneys and collected in the bladder, which expands like a balloon as the volume increases. When full, the bladder empties itself by releasing the urine via the urethra. Most people need to pass water every three to four hours during the day and up to once or twice in the night. For normal urination, the muscular wall of the bladder has to contract at the same time as a valve mechanism at the outlet of the bladder relaxes.
However, urine tends to leak most when one coughs, during intense laughter, or when doing exercise such as jumping or running. In these kinds of situations, there is a sudden extra pressure within the abdomen and on the bladder. Urine leaks because the pelvic floor muscles and urethra cannot withstand the extra pressure. The incontinence develops because the pelvic floor muscles are weakened, reducing the person’s ability to hold the urine and...