Background <p>Constipation and urinary incontinence are common medical conditions that can considerably reduce the quality of life; older women are affected more often.</p> Objective <p>Medicinal treatment options, chances of success and side effects.</p> Material and methods <p>Presentation of the commonly used medicinal treatment for urinary incontinence and constipation based on the current guidelines.</p> Results <p>For the medicinal treatment of urinary incontinence, local estrogen application, duloxetine for stress urinary incontinence and anticholinergics as well as beta 3‑adrenoceptor agonists for overactive bladder symptoms are available. The available medications can improve urinary incontinence; however, the compliance is often limited due to frequent side effects. The medicinal treatment of chronic constipation is carried out according to a&#xa0;step by step scheme. First-line medications include macrogol, sodium picosulfate and bisacodyl. Diarrhea or abdominal pain occasionally occur as a&#xa0;side effect. Long-term use is harmless and contrary to popular belief, there is no potential for dependency. If this is not sufficient, medications can be combined or synthetic disaccharides or anthraquinones can be used as second-line medications and, if treatment is still not successful prucalopride or linaclotide can be used.</p> Conclusion <p>There are good medicinal treatment options for both chronic constipation and urinary incontinence; however, treatment adherence in urinary incontinence is often low due to the side effects of the available medications. There are often unfounded concerns about the use of laxatives due to the potential for dependency but in principle there are also effective forms of drug treatment.</p>