What Is Overactive Bladder Syndrome?

Overview

If you find yourself using the bathroom more often or feel the sudden and urgent need to go during the day and sometimes at night, you may have overactive bladder syndrome. It is not a deadly disease, but an inconvenient and embarrassing condition that can force you to travel and socialize less, wear protective clothing or pads, and avoid intimacy.

Features

Overactive bladder syndrome, also called urinary incontinence, is the loss of bladder control. It can happen to women and men at any age, especially as they grow older, but is not a normal part of aging.

Facts

Normally, you urinate at will at least four to eight times a day in response to the slight discomfort from a full bladder. When you decide to go, bladder muscles and those surrounding the urethra (the tube that leads from the bladder to outside the body) contract. Called the micturition reflex, this process is affected when muscles become too weak or contract too often.

Types

The two most common types of overactive bladder are: stress incontinence (when a laugh, cough, sneeze or lifting a heavy object causes a leak) and urge incontinence (the sudden urge to go, even when your bladder is not full, which results in a leak or complete emptying). The first type is common in women after childbirth has weakened pelvic floor muscles that support the bladder. The second type usually affects men with prostate enlargement or other bladder problems.

Significance

In some cases, overactive bladder can signal another health condition that you may not be aware of, such as a stroke, multiple sclerosis, diabetes--especially if you are going more often--or prostate or bladder cancer. Other causes of overactive bladder are nerve damage from a spinal cord injury or surgery (such as a hysterectomy).

Prevention/Solution

Once your doctor isolates the most likely cause of your overactive bladder, treatment may include one or a combination of the following: bladder retraining exercises, which gradually "teach" the bladder to hold urine longer; strengthening exercises that work on pelvic floor muscles to better support the bladder; prescription medicines that either contract or relax bladder muscles to regulate control; or, in extreme cases, surgery or devices that stimulate nerves.