If your bladder has gone out of control and you can no longer hold urine, you could be suffering from urinary incontinence.

This health condition weakens your bladder muscles and it can get embarrassing since urine can leak whenever you sneeze or cough. It’s common among women as well as elderly people.

In severe cases, you experience an urgent need to pee and you may not get to the toilet in time. It’s however, not a disease but a symptom of an underlying problem or simply resulting from daily habits.

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Check out some of the common causes of urinary incontinence:

1. Foods and drinks

Whatever you take down your gut could be the reason your bladder has lost control. Diuretic drinks such caffeine, alcohol and chocolate trigger your bladder to produce more urine and it might get out of hand. Foods rich in spices and certain medications may also lead to urinary incontinence.

2. Aging

As you age, the bladder muscles weaken and reduce their capacity to hold urine. Involuntary bladder contractions also become common as you age hence losing control of your bladder. See some of the things that happen to your body when you turn 30.

3. Birth

Women who have had vaginal birth are at a higher risk of experiencing urinary incontinence. This is because the muscles that support the bladder, the nerves and the tissues may be weakened or damaged during birth.

4. Pregnancy

The hormonal changes experienced during pregnancy and the pressure exerted by the fetus may make it hard to control your bladder.

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5. Prostate cancer

In men, a loose bladder could be a sign of untreated prostate cancer. But in most cases, it’s a side effect of prostate cancer medication.

Other factors that may lead to a loose bladder include; obesity, urinary tract infection, kidney stones, menopause or surgeries such as hysterectomy.