What is overactive bladder?
Overactive bladder is a condition that causes a sudden and frequent urge to urinate. This urge may be difficult to control, leading to involuntary leakage of urine. It can be a disruptive and embarrassing condition that affects both men and women.
What causes overactive bladder?
There are several factors that can contribute to overactive bladder, including:
- Bladder muscle contractions
- Neurological disorders
- Urinary tract infections
- Certain medications
What are symptoms of overactive bladder?
The most common symptoms of overactive bladder include:
- Feeling the need to urinate immediately.
- Having to urinate more often than usual, usually more than 8 times in a 24-hour period.
- Waking up at night to urinate.
- Involuntary leakage of urine after feeling the urge to urinate.
- Urinary urgency, usually with frequency and nocturia, and sometimes with urinary urgency incontinence.
How is overactive bladder diagnosed?
Talk to your medical provider or bladder specialist, like a urogynecologist or urologist. A physical exam helps identify other conditions that influence the bladders, such as prolapse.
Additional tests might include:
- Urine analysis to check for a urinary tract infection and blood in your urine.
- Ultrasound to assess how much urine remains in your bladder after urinating.
- Urodynamics to provide information on your bladder and urethra.
What are treatment options for overactive bladder?
Treatment options for overactive bladder may include behavioral therapies, medication, and in some cases, surgery.
- Dietary changes – certain types of drinks can provoke bladder spasms. For example, coffee, tea, sodas, and other beverages with caffeine worsen symptoms.
- Pads and skin care – Use only all-cotton or incontinences pads which are gentle on the skin. Try to let the skin air out and dry when possible.
- Bladder training – Bladder re-training involves using your pelvic floor muscles to gradually increase time between bathroom visits. As you do this more and more, your bladder muscles readjusts. Ask your provider for a referral to a pelvic floor physical therapist.
- Medicines – OAB medicines help your bladder hold more urine for longer periods of time and reduce urine leakage. Potential side effects include dry mouth and constipation.
- Pelvic floor physical therapy – work with a specialized physical therapist to learn the best techniques, it may take 3 to 6 months of regular pelvic floor muscle exercise to see results.
- Botox – Botox relaxes the bladder muscle. This allows more urine to be held in the bladder before you have to go to the bathroom. Under local anesthetic or sedation, your provider uses a small camera and needle to inject Botox into the bladder wall.
- Nerve stimulation – There are many nerves involved in bladder function. Nerve stimulators help control these nerves, reducing the need to urinate often.
- Tibial nerve stimulation is similar to acupuncture. A small needle is inserted near a nerve in the ankle and connected to an external device that delivers small pulses to the nurse. This changes the messaging to the bladder.
- Sacral Nerve Stimulation is a device surgically implanted near the spine. It modulates the bladder nerves.
If you are experiencing symptoms of overactive bladder, it is important to speak with a healthcare provider for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.