About Overactive Bladders.
by Bruce S. Crawford MD, FACOG
The term overactive bladder describes a very common medical condition affecting 17 million Americans, primarily women. Patients with overactive bladder usually describe some or all of the following symptoms:
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Frequent need to urinate (every hour or two)
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Difficulty making it to the bathroom in time
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The need to get up more than once at night to urinate
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Leakage of large amounts of urine following a strong urge to urinate
Patients with overactive bladder often accept their symptoms as a natural consequence of aging. This, however, is absolutely not true. Only one in four women will address problems with overactive bladder with their doctor. For those who do seek care the symptoms have typically been present for many years. Helping patients to understand that bladder control problems are not a natural part of getting older, and that very effective treatment is available, is the first step toward eliminating the problem.
The reasons for overactive bladder symptoms are often different for different patients. The most common reason, however, is unwanted spontaneous bladder contractions.
Why Some Bladders Contract When They Shouldn't
The bladder is designed to contract and empty itself when it becomes full. As children we learn how to control, or suppress, these contractions until a time that is socially appropriate for us to urinate. Once learned we no longer have to think about suppressing bladder contractions as the brain dose it for us automatically. The overactive bladder is one that is no longer automatically suppressed by the brain. The reasons for this are not completely understood. It is known however that these contractions can often be stopped by contracting the muscles of the pelvis, a maneuver sometimes called a Kegel exercises. (For more information on how to perform kegel exercises see "Treatment options") When the Kegel muscles are contracted a message is sent to the spinal cord and subsequently to the bladder causing the bladder to relax. Unfortunately for many women with overactive bladder the Kegel muscles are very weak and cannot mount an adequate contraction to suppress bladder contractions. Rehabilitation of the pelvic floor muscles is an effective and worthwhile first line treatment of overactive bladder.
The most important thing you can do to improve you bladder symptoms is to speak to a physician about the problem.
