Regaining control of your bladder

Medications and surgery can cure urinary incontinence, but first try cutting back on fluids and exercising the pelvic floor.

From an early age, we learn to fend off the urge to urinate and instead "hold it" till we can get to a bathroom. But many people lose the ability to control when they urinate. In the brain-versus-bladder tug-of-war, the bladder seems to gain the upper hand. Often it's a matter of small leaks of urine now and then, but it's common for the problem to be a much bigger one, because of either the frequency of the leakage, the amount of urine that comes out, or both.