Glossary of Terms

Urinary incontinence: leakage of urine beyond one’s control.  CLICK HERE to view a description for urinary incontinence.

Stress incontinence: Involuntary loss of urine during activities such as laughing, coughing, sneezing, lifting, exercise, etc.  CLICK HERE to view a description for stress urinary incontinence.

Urge incontinence (Overactive Bladder): An involuntary loss of urine preceded by a strong urge to urinate.  CLICK HERE to view a description for urinary urge incontinence.

Mixed Incontinence: a mixture of stress incontinence and urge incontinence.

Urinary Urgency: a strong need to immediately urinate.

Urinary Frequency: urinating more than every 2 hours or more than 8 times a day.

Dysuria: painful urination.

Nocturia: getting up to urinate more than once during the night.

Fistula: an opening between the bladder and vagina or rectum and vagina which leads to leakage of urine or passage of stool vaginally.

Voiding Dysfunction: slowing of urinary stream and having difficulty emptying one’s bladder. May be caused by prolapse.

Urinary Retention: unable to start a urinary stream and retaining a large volume of urine in the bladder. May be caused by prolapse.

Fecal Incontinence: uncontrolled loss of gas or fecal material.

Constipation: infrequent bowel movements, excessive straining to have bowel movements, passage of small and/or hard stool. Some times fingers are placed inside the vagina or on the space between the vagina and anus to aid with bowel movements.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse: displacement, falling, or sagging of uterus or vaginal walls.

Cystocele: displacement of the bladder into vagina.   CLICK HERE to view a description of a cystocele.

Rectocele: displacement of the rectum into vagina.  CLICK HERE to view a description of a rectocele.  

Enterocele: displacement of the small intestine into space between rectum and vagina.

Uterovaginal Prolapse: falling of the uterus into the vagina and beyond the vaginal opening.  CLICK HERE to view a description of uterine prolapse.

Vaginal vault prolapse: displacement of the top of the vagina.  CLICK HERE for a description of vault prolapse.