Overactive Bladder

What is Overactive Bladder?

Overactive bladder is a urological health condition where the person experiences the urge to urinate much more frequently than normal. OAB can also involve urinary incontinence, which is when there is leakage of urine that is also uncontrollable for the sufferer. The urinary urges are caused by involuntary bladder contractions, and for people with normal urological health, the bladder will contract and create the urge to urinate only when the bladder is full or nearly full.

What happens with OAB is that the bladder starts to send nerve signals to the brain to request that the muscles of the bladder and pelvic floor start to contract to force urination. This despite the bladder only being partially full a lot of the time, and people with an overactive bladder may have to urinate up to 8 times a day.

What Causes Overactive Bladder?

An overactive bladder is usually the result of a separate health condition, and for some people they may have it because of bladder stones or tumors in the bladder. Conditions that affect the brain and spinal cord, like stroke and multiple sclerosis, can also factor into a person's OAB, and diabetes may also be behind what causes overactive bladder. A very common reason that a man will have an overactive bladder is because of BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) causing an enlarged prostate that pushes against the wall of the bladder.

Women may have OAB during menopause because of hormonal changes in their bodies, and urinary tract infection may cause people to have temporary increases in urinary urges until the infection is cleared. Age is also always going to be a factor too.

Overactive Bladder Symptoms

Feeling the need to urinate with some level of urgency and having it happen much more often than before is the most primary of overactive bladder symptoms. Urinary incontinence is also one, and this is when urine leaks from the urethra at the end of the urinary tract. Nocturia is needing to wake up more than twice to urinate during the night, and this is also common with OAB. An inability to feel that the bladder has been emptied even when it no longer contains urine can also be a symptom of this condition.

Overactive Bladder Treatment

The most conventional approach to overactive bladder treatment is to have the person start on an OAB treatment medication like Myrbetriq or Toviaz. These drugs are formulated to relax the muscles of the bladder and will reduce the frequency and severity of urinary urgency. A doctor may also recommend that the person do pelvic floor muscle builder exercises called kegels, and especially if they have urinary incontinence because of an overactive bladder.

It may also be necessary for OAB sufferers to limit caffeine or alcohol intake, maintain a healthier body weight, and get physical exercise more often to improve their urological health in this way.