There are several levels of protection - light incontinenece, moderate incontinence, heavy incontinence, and overnight incontinence. Light incontinence, like some forms of stress incontinence and urge incontinence, is very common, and is often caused by age or childbirth. The bladder muscles get weakened as a person gets older, or by delivering children, and a little incontinence develops. Pads can often be used for stress or urge incontinence and often take care of the issue discretely. Heavy incontinence can occur because of operations or aging, and is a little more involved to keep discrete. There are many good products for heavy incontinence, though, and there are many things a person can do.