The StarFormer Guide
Stress, Urge or Mixed: Which Kind of Incontinence Do You Have?
Stress incontinence is leaking when you cough, laugh, sneeze or lift. Urge incontinence is a sudden need you cannot defer, sometimes with leaking before you reach the toilet. Mixed is both. They feel different and the emphasis of care differs, which is why working out your type is the first useful step.
If you leak, you are in very good company, and you are not stuck with it. Bladder leaks are one of those things almost nobody talks about and a great many people quietly live with, often for years, assuming it is just how things are now.
The useful starting point is working out which kind you have, because stress, urge and mixed incontinence behave differently, and the emphasis of treatment differs with them. None of this requires a label from a brochure. A few honest questions about when you leak will usually point the way, and a clinician confirms it from there. This guide walks you through the three types, the tell-tale signs of each, and where a pelvic floor chair honestly fits.
First, the reassuring part: this is common
Incontinence is far more common than the silence around it suggests. Continence Health Australia reports that around one in three Australians over the age of 15 experience some form of incontinence, affecting roughly four in ten women and two in ten men.
It is also not just an older person's issue. Seven in ten people who experience incontinence are under 65, and the average age is around 51. So if you are in your thirties, forties or fifties and wondering whether you are too young for this, you are not unusual at all.
Common, though, is not the same as something you simply have to accept. Most types respond well to the right care, and the first step is naming what you are dealing with.
What is stress incontinence?
Stress incontinence is leaking when sudden pressure is put on your bladder, when you cough, laugh, sneeze, lift something or jump. There is usually no warning and no strong need to go beforehand. The leak is small to moderate and tracks the movement that triggered it.
It happens because the pelvic floor muscles and the support around the bladder neck are not holding firmly enough against that spike in pressure. It is the most common type after childbirth and around menopause, and it is the type that responds most directly to strengthening the pelvic floor.
The tell: if your leaks line up with cough, laugh, lift or exercise rather than with a sudden urge, you are most likely looking at stress incontinence.
What is urge incontinence?
Urge incontinence is a sudden, strong need to pass urine that is hard to defer, sometimes with leaking before you reach the toilet. You might find yourself going more often than feels normal, woken at night to go, or set off by cues like running water, cold weather, or arriving home and putting the key in the door.
Here the issue is less about physical support and more about the bladder muscle signalling too eagerly, the pattern often described as an overactive bladder. Urge incontinence still has a pelvic floor component, because a strong, well-coordinated pelvic floor helps calm those signals, but the approach leans more on retraining the bladder alongside strengthening.
The tell: if the problem is a sudden, urgent "I need to go right now" that you struggle to hold, rather than a leak when you cough or lift, that points to urge incontinence.
What is mixed incontinence?
Mixed incontinence is both at once. You leak with coughing, laughing or lifting, and you also get sudden urges that are hard to hold. It is very common, especially as people get older, and it can make self-diagnosis genuinely confusing, because the two patterns overlap.
It simply means a good plan addresses both threads, the support side and the signalling side, rather than one alone. Many people find one type bothers them more than the other, and a clinician can help work out which to prioritise.
Does the treatment really differ by type?
The emphasis does, which is why pinning down your type is worth doing.
For stress incontinence, building pelvic floor strength is the main lever, through pelvic floor physiotherapy and supervised exercise.
For urge incontinence, bladder retraining and calming the overactive signalling matter more, often alongside lifestyle changes such as adjusting fluid and caffeine, with pelvic floor strengthening in support.
For mixed incontinence, you work both threads, usually leading with whichever pattern is affecting you most.
This is why a one-size approach is a blunt instrument. The right plan starts from your type, not from a generic protocol, and that is something a clinician sets after assessing you.
Where a pelvic floor chair fits, by type
A pelvic floor chair like the StarFormer PRO IntimaWave uses a magnetic field to trigger involuntary pelvic floor contractions while you sit fully clothed, far stronger than a Kegel, reaching deep muscles that are hard to isolate on your own. Sessions run around 20 to 30 minutes with no downtime, and most people find them comfortable. The IntimaWave is a CE-marked medical device that uses Fotona's HITS technology, High Intensity Tesla Magnetic Stimulation. What makes it worth understanding is how it is engineered: the chair works from both the seat and the back at once, so it strengthens the pelvic floor and supports the lower back in the same session, the platform runs up to four applicator channels, and the settings are tailored to your condition. Fotona lists the IntimaWave for stress, urge and mixed urinary incontinence, post-partum pelvic floor recovery, mild pelvic organ prolapse, and male pelvic floor strengthening including after prostate surgery.
Where it fits depends on your type, and it is honest to be specific:
- For stress incontinence, strengthening the pelvic floor is the main goal, so this is where a chair is most directly relevant, used alongside physiotherapy rather than instead of it.
- For urge incontinence, the chair is used as part of a wider plan that leans more on bladder retraining, with the pelvic floor work supporting better control of those urgent signals.
- For mixed incontinence, it forms part of a plan that addresses both, with the clinician setting the priority.
Where pelvic organ prolapse is part of the picture, the IntimaWave is used only for mild prolapse, assessment-led, and works alongside specialist urogynaecology care rather than in place of it. It is not a cure, and it is not a substitute for surgery where that is the right path.
What a chair does not do is replace assessment, or fix any one type on its own. It is one tool within a pathway whose first step is conservative care. More on Pink's IntimaWave sets out how the pelvic floor pathway works and the conditions it is used for.
Individual response varies, and your clinician will assess your progress across a course rather than promising a fixed result.
See a GP or a pelvic floor physiotherapist first
Self-diagnosis has limits, and some things deserve a doctor before anything else. See your GP promptly if you notice blood in your urine, pain or burning when you go, a feeling of something bulging or dragging (which can suggest prolapse), leaking that started suddenly, or any new symptom alongside the leaking. These need assessment in their own right.
For anyone, a women's-health or continence and pelvic floor physiotherapist is a valuable early step. They can confirm your type, check how your pelvic floor is actually working, and start the evidence-based first line of care, which for incontinence is conservative treatment: pelvic floor physiotherapy, supervised exercise, bladder retraining and lifestyle measures. We often work in parallel with a physiotherapist rather than in place of one.
So the sensible sequence is: rule out anything that needs medical attention, get your type confirmed, start conservative care, and add a chair where it strengthens the result. A pelvic floor chair is part of that pathway, not a shortcut around it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know which type of incontinence I have?
The simplest tell is timing. Leaking with a cough, laugh, sneeze or lift, with no warning, points to stress incontinence. A sudden, urgent need that is hard to hold, sometimes with leaking on the way to the toilet, points to urge incontinence. Both together is mixed incontinence. These are useful clues rather than a diagnosis, so a GP or a pelvic floor physiotherapist should confirm your type before you settle on a plan.
Can you have both stress and urge incontinence at once?
Yes. That is mixed incontinence, and it is very common, especially with age. It simply means a good plan addresses both the support side, with pelvic floor strengthening, and the bladder-signalling side, with bladder retraining. A clinician can help work out which pattern is affecting you most and lead with that.
Does the treatment differ depending on the type?
The emphasis does. Stress incontinence leans most on building pelvic floor strength. Urge incontinence leans more on bladder retraining and calming overactive signalling, with strengthening in support. Mixed works both. This is why identifying your type is worth doing, because the right plan starts from it rather than from a one-size protocol.
How many Tesla is the Emsella chair?
BTL publishes the Emsella's field at up to 2.5 Tesla. Fotona describes the StarFormer PRO IntimaWave by its HITS technology rather than by a single Tesla figure, because the field that reaches the muscle depends on the coil design and how the treatment is delivered, not on a headline number alone. The more useful questions are whether a chair can be tailored to your type of incontinence and how completely it reaches the pelvic floor and lower back, which is what an assessment looks at.
When should I see a doctor about bladder leaks?
See a GP promptly if you notice blood in your urine, pain or burning, a feeling of something bulging, or leaking that began suddenly, as these need assessment in their own right. For anyone, a women's-health or continence and pelvic floor physiotherapist is a valuable early step to confirm your type and start conservative care, which is the evidence-based first line for incontinence.
Is it too late if I have had this for years?
No. Long-standing incontinence still responds to a structured plan. The pelvic floor muscles and bladder signalling can be retrained at most ages, and a clinician will set realistic expectations after assessing you. Many people who assumed this was simply permanent are surprised by how much the right plan helps.
More on Pink's IntimaWave
If you would like to understand which approach suits your type, read more about Pink's IntimaWave pelvic floor strengthening. No referral is needed, and your first conversation is a private, no-pressure assessment.
