What is Stress Urinary Incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is the unintentional loss of urine. Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) happens when physical movement or activity such as coughing, laughing, sneezing, running or heavy lifting puts pressure (stress) on your bladder, causing you to leak urine.

Stress incontinence is not related to psychological stress and is different from urgency incontinence and overactive bladder (OAB). People with OAB have an urgent, "gotta go" feeling that they can't control. Some people with OAB leak urine when they feel that urge.