Elevate Your Legs And Use Compression Stockings
Wear compression stockings or elevate your legs before you go to bed. Doing so may prevent the accumulation of fluid, i.e., fluid retention in your legs. As a result, fluid in the body is more adequately distributed and thereby reduces the need for urination.
If you dont have compression stockings, it helps to keep your legs elevated before bedtime, e.g., you can place a pillow under your legs. Another thing you can do is sit for an hour before bedtime with your legs elevated. This directs all the fluid buildup to your bladder and thereby helps you prevent nocturia or reduce your trips to the bathroom.
Stay Fit And Exercise The Bladder
Extra weight increases pressure on your bladder muscles, which may weaken them over time and can increase urinary urgency.5 A healthy diet and exercise can help improve bladder health by decreasing pressure on your bladder muscles. You can also exercise your muscles with Kegels. You read that right, men can do Kegels, too. Contract and hold your pelvic floor muscles ,6 then release them. Repeat this for five minutes, three times a day to strengthen the muscles around the bladder and urethra, helping to reduce urgency.6
What Behavioral Changes Can I Make To Help With Overactive Bladder
There are many techniques and changes to your typical behavior that you can try to help with an overactive bladder. These can include:
Keeping a log: During a typical day, write down your fluid intake, the number of times you urinate, the number of accidents and when they occur. Make a note about what happened when the accident happened, like when you:
- Cough.
- Laugh.
- Were unable to reach the bathroom in time.
Monitoring your diet: Eliminate or decrease foods or beverages that may worsen your bladder symptoms. These could include:
- Tea.
- Spicy and acidic foods and drinks.
- Foods and drinks that contain artificial sweeteners.
Maintaining bowel regularity: Constipation can place added pressure on the bladder and have a negative effect on your bladder function. By keeping healthy bowel habits, you may be able to avoid constipation and help to lessen bladder symptoms. The following are some suggestions for maintaining bowel regularity:
- Increase your fiber intake by eating foods like beans, pasta, oatmeal, bran cereal, whole wheat bread, and fresh fruit and vegetables.
- Every morning, take 2 tablespoons of this mixture: 1 cup apple sauce, 1 cup unprocessed wheat bran, and ¾ cup prune juice.
- Exercise regularly to maintain regular bowel movements.
Maintaining a healthy weight: Being overweight can add pressure on your bladder, which may contribute to bladder control problems. If you are overweight, weight loss can reduce the pressure on your bladder.
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What Constitutes An Overactive Bladder At Night
Technically speaking, an overactive bladder at night means getting up at least once a night to urinate2. However, by this definition, most people experience this condition to some extent. Therefore, its generally considered a problem when youre getting up two times a night or more to go to the toilet and/or have difficulty getting back to sleep.3
Nocturia differs from bedwetting , which typically involves the involuntary passing of urine4 and is more common in children5.
Reasons For An Overactive Bladder At Night
Have you found yourself waking up in the night to go to the toilet more often than usual? Is this disrupting your routine and causing you concern? Also known as nocturia, this can happen for a few reasons, including:
- Cystitis
- Menopause
- Prostate issues.
While some of these are more common , others could indicate that there is an underlying health issue that should be checked by your doctor.
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How Common Is Nocturia
Nocturia is quite common among both men and women. Studies and surveys have found that 69% of men and 76% of women over age 40 report getting up to go to the bathroom at least once per night. About one-third of adults over age 30 make two or more nightly bathroom trips.
Nocturia can affect younger people, but it becomes more common with age, especially in older men. It is estimated that nearly 50% of men in their seventies have to wake up at least twice per night to urinate. Overall, nocturia may affect up to 80% of elderly people.
Rates of nocturia have been found to be higher in people who are black and Hispanic than in white people even when controlling for gender and age. The reason for this disparity is not well understood.
Nocturia frequently occurs during pregnancy but usually goes away within three months after giving birth.
Try To Avoid Caffeine Carbonated Drinks Sugar Alcohol And Spicy Or Acidic Foods
- Caffeine is a diuretic which makes you need to use the bathroom more often.
- Carbonated drinks and sugar are thought to stimulate the bladder.
- Alcohol switches off the ability of your body to concentrate urine. This means you tend to urinate more dilute, watery urine, which dehydrates you. Since you are dehydrated, you may drink more.
- Acidic or spicy food may aggravate your overactive bladder and worsen your symptoms. Certain acidic fruit and juices like orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime can aggravate your bladder, too.
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Pelvic Floor Muscle Training
Your pelvic floor muscles surround the bladder and urethra and control the flow of urine as you pee.
Weak or damaged pelvic floor muscles can cause urinary incontinence, so exercising these muscles is often recommended.
A GP may refer you to a specialist to start a programme of pelvic floor muscle training.
The specialist will assess whether you’re able to squeeze your pelvic floor muscles and by how much.
If you can contract your pelvic floor muscles, you’ll be given an exercise programme based on your assessment.
Your programme should include a minimum of 8 muscle contractions at least 3 times a day and last for at least 3 months. If the exercises are helping after this time, you can keep on doing them.
Research has shown that pelvic floor muscle training can benefit everyone with urinary incontinence.
Find out more about pelvic floor exercises.
Maintain A Healthy Weight
Excess weight increases the risk of many health problems. A growing body of evidence confirms being overweight or obese puts you at a higher risk of nocturia. The risk between the two is present, even if other parameters are eliminated, e.g., age, gender, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Since being overweight or obese puts you at a higher risk of nocturia, one way to manage this medical condition is to slim down or maintain weight in a healthy range. This isnt a quick fix but an important measure for the long-term management of this problem.
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Tips For Oab When You’re Out And About
Causes And Risk Factors
Aging
OAB occurs in both men and women. Its possible to have overactive bladder at any point in your life. But, its especially common in older adults. The prevalence of OAB in people younger than 50 years of age is less than 10 percent. After the age of 60, the prevalence increases to 20 to 30 percent.
The following are some of the other most common underlying causes and risk factors associated with OAB symptoms:
Nerve Damage
A healthy, normal functioning bladder holds urine until it gets full and is prompted to empty by nerve signals. However, when nerve damage occurs in the body, the muscles surrounding the urethra can be too loose. This undesirable looseness can cause someone to become incontinent. What can cause nerve damage that can then lead to bladder leakage? Some possibilities include:
- Back or pelvis surgery
- Stroke
Weak pelvic muscles
When a man or womans pelvic floor muscles are weak, bladder control issues can happen. The pelvic floor muscles are like a sling that holds up the uterus and bladder. For women, a pregnancy and childbirth can often lead to a stretching and weakening of the vital pelvic floor muscles. When pelvic floor muscles are compromised for this reason or another, the bladder can then sag out of place. The opening of the urethra also stretches and urine easily leaks out.
Menopause
Extra weight or obesity
Diuretic medications
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How Is Nocturia Classified
Nocturia is classified into 3 types that may overlap:
- Global polyuria
- Defined as production of urine volume more than 40 ml/kg per 24 hours
The bladder diary is crucial in helping define the type and cause of nocturia. The bladder diary determines:
- Total 24 hour urine output
- Nocturnal urine volume
- Proportion of total urine output that occurs at night
What Causes Overactive Bladder
An overactive bladder can be caused by several things, or even a combination of causes. Some possible causes can include:
- Weak pelvic muscles: Pregnancy and childbirth can cause your pelvic muscles to stretch and weaken. This can cause the bladder to sag out of its normal position. All of these factors can cause leakage.
- Nerve damage: Sometimes signals are sent to the brain and bladder to empty at the wrong time. Trauma and diseases can cause this to happen. These can include:
- Pelvic or back surgery.
- Stroke.
Often, there may be no specific explanation for why this is occurring.
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Botox For An Overactive Bladder
Although not commonly used, Botox is a handy muscle relaxer for a variety of conditions, including an overactive bladder. The compound is injected right into the bladder, and patients can experience fewer uncomfortable contractions and increased bladder capacity for up to a year after the injection has taken place.
However, Botox isnt without its dangers. Some patients find that after the procedure they retain urine too much, and experience pain and complications . For these reasons, Botox for overactive bladder treatment is only considered for certain people.
Tips For Getting Your Groove Back
There are some things you can do to ward off discomfort or embarrassment during sex.
Talk about it. First, know that your partner will probably be a lot more understanding than you expect. Then bring it up before you have intercourse. âDonât wait until it happens and say, âOh, guess what?ââ Denson says. âItâs better to be upfront and honest ahead of time.â
Plan. Prepare for sex, just as you do for bedtime. Double-void, cut back on fluids, and avoid foods and beverages that are likely to irritate your bladder.
Keep up the Kegels. Doing these several times a day — and even during intercourse — will help prevent urine leakage during sex.
All of these approaches can help you manage your overactive bladder at night, letting you get a better nightâs sleep and have a more active and satisfying sex life. But Sanz adds that if your overactive bladder is really causing you problems, thereâs no reason you need to live with it.
âThere is hope. There is treatment,â he says. You need to be evaluated by a urogynecologist, who will talk to you about three types of treatment: behavioral modification, medication, and surgical procedures are available, he says. âYou donât have to let an overactive bladder interfere with your life.â
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Urinary Incontinence In Older Adults
Urinary incontinence means a person leaks urine by accident. While it may happen to anyone, urinary incontinence is more common in older people, especially women. Incontinence can often be cured or controlled. Talk to your healthcare provider about what you can do.
What happens in the body to cause bladder control problems? The body stores urine in the bladder. During urination, muscles in the bladder tighten to move urine into a tube called the urethra. At the same time, the muscles around the urethra relax and let the urine pass out of the body. When the muscles in and around the bladder dont work the way they should, urine can leak. Incontinence typically occurs if the muscles relax without warning.
How Can You Manage An Overactive Bladder At Night
While unpleasant, an overactive bladder at night is controllable. Tips for managing the symptoms of nocturia vary from home remedies and lifestyle changes to medical interventions . When initially seeking advice from a medical professional, it can be useful to keep a voiding diary beforehand. This is a record of how much liquid you drink and how often you go to the toilet, which can help a doctor diagnose your issue. It may also include:
- how much wee comes out when you go to the loo
- which medications you take
- other symptoms, such as fatigue.14
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Causes Of Urinary Incontinence
Incontinence can happen for many reasons. For example, urinary tract infections, vaginal infection or irritation, constipation. Some medicines can cause bladder control problems that last a short time. When incontinence lasts longer, it may be due to:
- Weak bladder muscles
- Overactive bladder muscles
- Weak pelvic floor muscles
- Damage to nerves that control the bladder from diseases such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or Parkinsons disease
- Blockage from an enlarged prostate in men
- Diseases such as arthritis that may make it difficult to get to the bathroom in time
- Pelvic organ prolapse, which is when pelvic organs shift out of their normal place into the vagina. When pelvic organs are out of place, the bladder and urethra are not able to work normally, which may cause urine to leak.
Most incontinence in men is related to the prostate gland. Male incontinence may be caused by:
- Prostatitisa painful inflammation of the prostate gland
- Injury, or damage to nerves or muscles from surgery
- An enlarged prostate gland, which can lead to Benign Prostate Hyperplasia , a condition where the prostate grows as men age.
Treatment Of Nocturnal Polyuria
General measures that reduce excessive urine production at night include:
- Reduction in fluid intake in the 4-6 hours before going to bed.
- This includes eating foods with a high fluid content such as fruit, vegetables, salads, soup earlier in the day.
Other treatments for excessive urine production at night include:
- Use of a diuretic in the 6 hours before going to bed.
- This causes increased urine production in the hours after the diuretic medication is taken. The aim is to expel the excess fluid in the afternoon and early evening rather than overnight.
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