All About The Overactive Bladder

An overactive bladder is a condition where there is a frequent urge to urinate, among many other signs and symptoms. This article will talk about the diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, and prevention of overactive bladder.

Diagnosis

When you get a diagnosis for overactive bladder, your doctor will often examine your complete medical history, conduct a physical examination, order a urinalysis, and perform other specialized tests such as urodynamic, endoscopic, and imaging tests when necessary.

What Happens In Your System

In normal bladder function your bladder swells up when it is filled with urine. When it’s almost full, nerves surrounding it will signal your brain and loosen up your pelvic floor muscles so that urine can flow out. With involuntary bladder contractions, your muscles involuntarily contract even when the bladder is just half full. This is when you feel the sudden need to urinate. Sometimes, though, your bladder is unable to empty itself—this is called urge incontinence.

Causes

The causes of an overactive bladder include bladder abnormalities, urinary tract infection, inflammation surrounding the urinary tract, tumors, bladder stones, enlarged prostate, constipation, certain medications, diabetes, and excessive intake of caffeine or alcohol.

Symptoms

Finding yourself getting up twice or more times almost every night to use the bathroom is just one of the common signs of an overactive bladder. Other symptoms include having to urinate 8 or more times a day, frequently having the urge to urinate, leaking, anxiety over wetting, and feeling the sudden urge to urinate. You may feel anxious about whether or not there is a bathroom nearby such as when you are having a long meeting, stuck in traffic, or in public transport. You may also find yourself making sure you carry pads or similar devices in case leaking occurs.

Treatment

Typical drugs include oxybutynin chloride, tolterodine, and other antimuscarinics. These drugs act to relax the smooth muscle of the bladder. If you are diagnosed with overflow incontinence, you may be asked to keep a voiding diary, which includes occurrences of urination and leaking. With the information you provide, your doctor can help you plan what time of the day you can empty your bladder so you can prevent leakage. A patch may also be recommended, which is a device that distributes oxybutynin (treatment for overactive bladder) through the skin of your hip or abdomen. In more severe cases, surgery is required, where mild electrical pulses are used to stimulate nerves and relieve symptoms (sacral nerve stimulator), or a portion of your bladder is replaced (augmentation cystoplasy).

Prevention

As of today, the causes of overactive bladder are not completely clear, so preventive measures can only do so much. Though, it is still better to consume adequate amounts of fiber, exercise regularly, and limit your intake of caffeine and alcohol.

If you have one or more of the condition’s symptoms, you may have overactive bladder. However, get a proper diagnosis first, as some of the symptoms of overactive bladder can also be symptoms of other health conditions such as interstitial cystitis.