All about Overactive Bladder

Overactive bladder is a condition that causes a sudden urge to urinate. People with this health condition also urinate more frequently, and this often limits their social activities. While overactive bladder or OAB is not life-threatening, it causes a range of uncomfortable symptoms. Fortunately, most cases can be managed with the right treatment and medication. Read on to know more.

Symptoms

The symptoms can differ from person to person and they can also change over time. Some common symptoms of the condition include:

• Urgent and uncontrollable urge to urinate

• Urinating frequently

• Involuntary loss of urine almost every day

• Urinating at least 2 times at night

However, occasional inconsistency should not be confused with an overactive bladder. There can be times when you experience urine leakage while coughing or laughing too hard. Also, fighting the urge to urinate for long can lead to urine leakage, even when you don’t have an overactive bladder.

Causes

Some common factors that can cause overactive bladder are:

• Drinking lots of fluids all-day

• Drinking alcohol, caffeinated beverages, and other drinks that irritate the bladder

• Taking medicines that irritate the bladder or increase urine production

• Not emptying the bladder completely

• Urinary tract infections

• Bladder stones or any other bladder abnormality

There are instances when an injury or trauma to the detrusor muscle leads to an overactive bladder. The detrusor is a collection of smooth muscles located within the walls of the bladder. This muscle can suffer injury due to the following reasons —

• Nerve damage

The nerves can get damaged due to certain conditions, such as pelvic or back surgery, multiple sclerosis, radiation therapy, Parkinson’s disease, and herniated discs. These conditions can cause the body to send wrong signals to the brain and bladder, such as to pee even when the bladder is not full.

• Weak abdominal muscles

The abdominal or pelvic muscles can weaken during pregnancy. This may cause the bladder to sag from its normal position, leading to an overactive bladder.

• Being overweight

This can put extra pressure on the bladder and cause urine inconsistency.

• Infections

Certain infections, such as UTIs, can also irritate the urinary tract and bladder and cause urinary incontinence.

• Oestrogen deficiency

Hormonal changes in the body after menopause, such as oestrogen deficiency, can also lead to an overactive bladder.

Treatment

Overactive bladder can be treated and managed with lifestyle changes and medications.

• Lifestyle changes

Healthcare practitioners usually suggest the following lifestyle changes to treat and manage an overactive bladder.

1. Follow a voiding schedule: Create a voiding schedule and pass urine at set times. This simply means that instead of urinating whenever you feel the urge, pass urine at set times. This will help you achieve better bladder control and ease overactive bladder symptoms.

2. Double void your bladder: If you feel the urge to pass urine soon after urinating, you must try double voiding. Once you have passed urine, wait for a few seconds and empty your bladder again.

3. Delay urination or voiding: Instead of urinating as soon as you feel the urge, wait a few minutes before emptying your bladder. Increasing the time slowly can help you train your bladder.

4. Exercise: Certain exercises, such as kegel exercise, can help strengthen the urinary sphincter and pelvic floor muscles. Strong muscles will prevent frequent bladder contraction and urination.

5. Stay away from bothersome foods and drinks: Certain foods and drinks, such as caffeinated beverages and spicy foods, can irritate the bladder and increase the frequency of urination. Therefore, if you find any food or drink irritating your bladder, avoid them to ease overactive bladder symptoms.

• Medications

If required, your healthcare practitioner may prescribe you medicines to relax and ease symptoms of urinary incontinence. Overactive bladder is also treated with bladder injections which are given into bladder tissues to relax the muscles. This helps the bladder hold more urine, thereby treating severe urinary incontinence. The doctor may also give nerve stimulation to bladder nerves in form of mild electrical pulses to relieve the symptoms.

Apart from this, there is a Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation (PTNS), a procedure which is done to send electrical stimulation from nerve near ankle to the spine. Once the stimulation reaches the spine, it stimulates bladder nerves thereby helping in bladder control.

If you experience severe OAB symptoms and none of the above treatment options work, your doctor may treat the condition surgically to increase the amount of urine your bladder can hold.