Medications prescribed to treat incontinence may help stabilize bladder contractions or relax the bladder to allow it to fully empty. Women managing menopause may be given hormone replacement supplements to help strengthen the tissue in the urethra and vaginal tissue - minimizing symptoms of incontinence.

Common forms of medication used to treat urinary incontinence include:

- Anticholinergics: Anticholinergics can help bladder control and reduce symptoms of urge incontinence. Examples of anticholinergics include oxybutynin (Ditropan XL), tolterodine (Detrol), darifenacin (Enablex), fesoterodine (Toviaz), trospium (Sanctura), and solifenacin (Vesicare).

- Mirabegron (Myrbetriq): Mirebegron helps relax the bladder - allowing it to completely empty easier - and increases the amount of urine your bladder can hold. This may prevent symptoms of urge incontinence and overflow incontinence.

- Blood pressure medication: Also known as alpha-blockers, this type of blood pressure medication can help relax muscle fibers around the bladder and prostate. This makes it easier to completely empty your bladder, which alleviates symptoms of urge and overflow incontinence.

Talk to your doctor about your symptoms and the effectiveness of lifestyle changes as a treatment for urinary incontinence. These methods may not help some cases of incontinence but may help individuals manage the loss of bladder control due to stress or pelvic floor problems.

Examples of lifestyle changes that may help bladder control include:

- Bladder training: Try waiting a little longer between each trip to the bathroom to build up strength in bladder control. You can also schedule trips to the restroom, so that you train yourself to go at specific times - instead of whenever the urge hits you.

- Kegel exercises: Contracting the muscles around the bladder can strengthen the pelvic floor. Talk to your health care provider about the appropriate technique to strengthen these muscles. Kegel exercises may help mitigate the symptoms of stress and urge incontinence.

- Avoid caffeine and fluid intake before activities: If you struggle to control your bladder during events or activities, try avoiding caffeine - which can stimulate the bladder - and excessive water intake before these circumstances. Additionally, if you frequently wake up in the night to use the restroom, try limiting fluid intake in the hours before you go to bed.

- Use pads or drip collectors: Several products, including drip collector pads, can be worn under your garments to catch leakage caused by urinary incontinence. These products are light so that they can be worn without anyone noticing.

- Maintain a healthy weight: Excess weight can put added pressure on your internal organs - including the bladder. Maintaining a healthy weight can lead to several health benefits, one of which is increased bladder control.

If medication and lifestyle changes are not enough to adequately treat your incontinence symptoms, your doctor may recommend an injection of Botox or synthetic bulking material to relax the bladder or increase the size of the urethra. This can help reduce symptoms of stress incontinence.

In other cases, your doctor may recommend surgery to help support the bladder neck (the area of thickened muscle where the urethra meets the bladder). This can help reduce pressure on the urinary tract, which can help reduce symptoms of urinary incontinence.

Invasive procedures are usually reserved for cases where other forms of treatment have failed to adequately treat the condition. Talk to your doctor about whether or not surgery or injection procedures are the right treatment option for you.