Combatting an Overactive Bladder with These Treatment Options
According to the the American Urological Association about 33 million Americans have overactive bladder. Many of those people don’t seek help because they are embarrassed, or they don’t know what to say. They may also believe there are no treatments and overactive bladder is just something they have to manage each day.
You’ll be happy to learn that there are effective treatments that can help. You don’t have to limit your social engagements or learn to live with the discomfort that overactive bladder can cause. Discuss your symptoms with Dr. Kohli.
Overactive bladder isn’t a disease.
Although we refer to overactive bladder as a condition, it’s actually a group of symptoms. Those symptoms include:
The sudden, urgent need to urinate
Urine leakage when you feel the urge
Stress urinary incontinence - leaking urine when you sneeze or laugh
The need to urinate many times per day and night
You may have overactive bladder if you have one or more of these symptoms. Additionally, worries about urinating may make you less socially active, make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep, or hard to get through your workday.
There are multiple treatments.
From lifestyle changes and physical therapy to implantable devices, a range of treatments for overactive bladder exist. Dr. Kohli works with you individually, taking your goals, circumstances, and the severity of your issue into account to create an effective treatment plan for you.
Lifestyle changes
Some relatively simple treatments may effectively treat your overactive bladder. For example, Dr. Kohli may suggest you track the amount of liquid you consume and make appropriate adjustments.
You may need a therapy called bladder training, which involves going to the bathroom on a set schedule. This is also called scheduled voiding. You begin bladder training by waiting for a few minutes when you feel the urge to urinate, then work your way up to longer periods between visits to the bathroom.
Another treatment approach is using pelvic floor exercises to strengthen the muscles that control urination. Doing Kegel exercises regularly helps build those muscles up. Combining pelvic floor exercises and bladder training is often the first line of treatment for overactive bladder.
Medication
There are many different medications that Dr. Kohli may prescribe for overactive bladder. The reason that you feel the overwhelming urge to urinate is because the muscles in your bladder contract at the wrong time.
Drugs known as anticholinergics block the nerve signals that cause those contractions. They may also help to increase how much your bladder can hold and lessen the number of times you feel like you need to urinate.
Another type of medication sometimes used to treat overactive bladder is mirabegron, which works by relaxing the muscles in your bladder. It’s called a beta-3 adrenergic agonist, and it activates a particular protein receptor in your bladder muscles.
For some people the best medication for overactive bladder is the antidepressant imipramine hydrochloride. It also relaxes bladder muscles.
Injections
Bladder function is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Botox. However, since 2015, it’s been showing consistent, long-lasting results among patients with bladder problems, including overactive bladder.
Similar to other medications, Botox relaxes the muscles of your bladder. Those muscles contracting are the reason you feel the urge to urinate so strongly when you have overactive bladder.
Nerve stimulation
In some cases the most appropriate treatment is a medical device implanted to stimulate the nerves in your bladder and help normalize the impulses that tell your bladder to contract.
The most important step in finding the best treatment is to talk to Dr. Kohli about your symptoms. If you’ve been living with overactive bladder and thought that it was just part of life, book your appointment at Boston Urogyn online or by phone today. Learn more about your options, and don’t let your bladder direct your life!
