Overactive Bladder: All You Need To Know
Symptoms
Symptoms of an overactive bladder include the following:
- Urine urgency : This indicates an inability to put off the urge to urinate. Patients have a short period to reach a bathroom once they feel the urge to urinate.
- Urination frequency : Those who suffer from this condition must urinate often. The typical symptom is an increase in the frequency of urination compared to before.
- Urine incontinence : Urine incontinence: When you desire to urinate, you may have urine leakage, known as urge incontinence.
- Nocturia : This symptom is known as the urge to get up throughout the night to urinate at least twice.
When to see a doctor?
Despite being common in older persons, an overactive bladder is not a common sign of ageing. Even though it might be difficult, if your symptoms bother you or interfere with your life, talk to your doctor about them. There are treatments out there that could help you. If you have severe OAB symptoms, there may be a problem underlying. Some of the Signs include:
One should schedule a consultation if you have any symptoms in addition to the typical OAB symptoms.
Causes
Some factors, or a combination of factors, might lead to an overactive bladder.
Among these the potential causes are:
- Weak pelvic muscles : The pelvic muscles, which support the organs in the lower abdomen, might expand and weaken during pregnancy and childbirth. The bladder sags from its normal position as a result of it. Any of these elements may cause leakage.
- Nerve damage :
The brain and bladder occasionally get messages that tell them to empty when they shouldn't. Trauma and disease are also possible causes of this. These could include
- Stroke.
- Herniated disc.
- Pelvic or back surgery.
- Parkinson's disease.
- Multiple sclerosis.
- Radiation.
- Medications, alcohol, and caffeine : The brain's response can be affected by medications, alcohol, and coffee, all of which can weaken the nerves. The bladder could overflow due to this, caffeine and medications might accelerate the swelling and possible leakage of the bladder.
- Infection : The bladder's nerves can get disturbed by an infection, like a urinary tract infection (UTI), which can cause an unexpected bladder contraction.
- Excess weight : Carrying extra weight puts additional strain on the bladder. This can lead to urge incontinence.
Risk Factors
- Neurological conditions or signal damage between your brain and bladder
- Hormone imbalance
- Spasms or weakened pelvic muscles
- Infected urinary tract
- Adverse side effects of a medication
- Diseases like multiple sclerosis and stroke that damage the brain or spinal cord
Consult the healthcare provider if you suspect OAB. Understanding the cause will help you control your symptoms.
Complications
An overactive bladder may impact the quality of life and it can put Stress on your social, professional, and personal relationships. A reduction in quality of life can be caused by complications like
- Anxiety and depression
- Concerns relating to sexuality and sexual dysfunction,
- Disruptions in sleep
Prevention
Some of these Below Listed healthy lifestyle choices may reduce the risk of an overactive bladder :
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Include exercise and physical activities in your Daily Routine.
- Take alcohol and caffeine in moderation.
- Stop smoking.
- Manage Chronic Diseases like diabetes that may exacerbate symptoms of overactive bladder.
- Do exercises to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor. These exercises are called Kegel exercises.
Diagnosis
To determine what is causing the symptoms of an overactive bladder, the doctor may perform several tests. The following tests are used to identify overactive bladders:
- Urodynamic Testing :A bladder's ability to store pee, pressure, how full it is when people need to urinate, how much urine is left in the bladder after urinating, and whether or not the bladder contracts on its own is identified using urodynamic testing.
- A urine analysis test will look for symptoms of illness and other problems in the urine.
- The kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra may be seen using a pelvic ultrasound.
- A cystoscope is used to see inside the bladder. A little tube must be inserted via the urethra to complete this surgery.
- An ultrasound is used during a bladder scan to gauge how much pee is still in your bladder after urinating.
Treatment
The Good news is that the Condition is Curable. We offer the most cutting-edge techniques to assist you in overcoming OAB. The care plan might contain Various things based on the health and treatment objectives.
- Dietary changes : Diet Changes in Patients could discover a connection between the symptoms of OAB and certain beverages. Caffeinated beverages, and alcohol, including soda and coffee, can cause OAB.
- Pelvic floor exercises (Kegels) : Women may effectively manage those unexpected urges to urinate by strengthening the pelvic floor. Additionally, stronger pelvic floor muscles might assist you in remaining leak- and accident-free. You'll discover a successful routine of Kegel exercises from our skilled physical therapists who specialise in pelvic floor therapy.
- Bladder training : Our therapists can also show patients how to retrain their bladder muscles to enable them to retain pee for longer. This retraining can eventually reduce how frequently patients use the restroom.
- OAB medications : Doctors provide a range of oral medications that relax the detrusor muscle and prevent bladder contractions.
- Botulinum toxin injections : Injections of botulinum toxin can be given to the bladder wall to help the muscle relax and reduce spasms. This treatment needs to be repeated once or twice a year.
- Nerve stimulators : The tibial and sacral nerves signal the bladder to contract and release urine. We use innovative nerve stimulation techniques to change your bladder's reflexes and reduce the urgent need to go.
- Surgery : Your doctor could advise surgery if other treatments are unsuccessful. To surgically treat overactive bladder, our specialists employ several minimally invasive procedures.
Dos and Don’ts
An uncontrollable contraction of the bladder's muscles triggers the urge to urinate and may lead to accidental voiding. Ageing and having given birth both raise the risk of an overactive bladder. Urinary frequency can also be a side effect of diabetes, certain drugs, and neurological conditions. But these mentioned do's and don't can help you efficiently manage the situation.
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| Try to avoid caffeine, carbonated drinks, sugar, alcohol, and spicy or acidic foods | Eat spicy foods, |
| Maintain the ideal body weight, | Consume foods containing artificial flavourings and preservatives |
| Drink plenty of water to maintain overall bladder health | Smoke as it may increase the urge to urinate |
| Pelvic floor exercises | Avoid any new signs and symptoms |
| Eat a well-balanced diet | Eat unhealthy oily fatty foods |
Care at Medicover Hospitals
At Medicover Women & Child, we have the most skilled group of Urogynecologists who can provide patients with the best care for an overactive bladder in women. Our highly qualified staff uses current medical methods, diagnostic techniques, and other technologies to treat various illnesses and prevent a recurrence. We start with the appropriate diagnosis when treating an overactive bladder in a woman by informing the patient and moving the treatment along with planned follow-ups for better tracking and monitoring of the condition.
