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November is Bladder Health Awareness Month

Overactive Bladder

If you have unusual urges to urinate, your healthcare professional checks for an infection or blood in your urine. Your healthcare professional may also check to see if you're emptying your bladder completely when you urinate.

Your healthcare professional may suggest tests to see how well your bladder works and whether it can empty all the way, called urodynamic tests. A specialist typically performs these tests, but testing may not be needed to make a diagnosis or begin treatment.

Urodynamic tests include:

  • Measuring urine left in the bladder. This test is important if you might not be emptying your bladder all the way when you urinate. Remaining urine in the bladder, called postvoid residual urine, can cause symptoms like those of an overactive bladder.
  • Measuring urine flow rate. To measure how much and how fast you urinate, you may be asked to urinate into a device called a uroflowmeter. 
  • Testing bladder pressures. A test called cystometry measures pressure in your bladder and in the area around it as your bladder fills.

Your healthcare provider reviews the results of your tests with you and suggests a treatment plan. Behavioral therapies are the first choice in helping manage an overactive bladder. They often work and have no side effects.

Behavioral therapies may include:

  • Biofeedback. During biofeedback, an electrical patch put on the skin over your bladder is attached to a wire that's linked to a screen. This lets you see when your bladder muscles contract.
  • Bladder training. Bladder training involves going to the bathroom at set times. Use a bladder diary to see how often you go. Then add 15 minutes at a time between trips to the toilet. 
  • Healthy weight. If you're overweight, losing weight may ease symptoms.
  • Intermittent catheterization. If you are not able to empty your bladder well, using a tube called a catheter at times to empty your bladder all the way helps your bladder do what it can't do by itself. 
  • Pelvic floor muscle exercises. Kegel exercises strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and urinary sphincter. Stronger muscles can help you stop the bladder from contracting on its own.

Living with overactive bladder can be hard. Consumer education and advocacy support groups such as the National Association for Continence can provide you with online resources and information. For overactive bladder, start by seeing your primary healthcare professional. You might then be sent to a specialist in urinary conditions in men and women, called a urologist, a specialist in urinary conditions in women, called a urogynecologist, or a specialist in physical therapy.

For more information on overactive bladder issues, read here.

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