If you are a woman over the age of 50, you may be one of 16 million Americans who deal with urinary incontinence. Women account for about 85 percent of reported cases (13.6 million cases).

“The explanation [as to] why women are more vulnerable to incontinence is, unfortunately, that life isn’t fair,” says Dr. Philippe Zimmere, professor of urology at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. “A man’s urethra is longer than a woman’s, which is less than two inches long.”

The vaginal wall and other muscles support the urethra. Those muscles may weaken from trauma after pregnancy or childbirth, a hysterectomy or other pelvis surgery, or hormonal changes that come with menopause and aging.

Women do not have to accept incontinence, Dr. Zimmem stresses.

“With exercise, medication, surgery, and other therapies, we can find the best option for treatment,” he says. “The goal is to find the optimal approach toward giving a woman control over her life.”