What Is A Weak Bladder

Do The Right Exercises

High-impact exercise and sit-ups put pressure on your pelvic floor muscles and can increase leaks.

To strengthen your pelvic floor to relieve symptoms, replace high-impact exercise, such as jogging and aerobics, with strengthening exercise, such as pilates.

Pilates strengthens your core muscles, which is beneficial for stress incontinence.

How Do You Fix A Weak Bladder

Here are 18 tips to help fix your weak bladder.

1. Get your bladder stronger through exercise

The best way to improve the strength of your bladder is with Kegel exercises. A weak bladder can cause problems like urinary incontinence. If you want to learn how to fix a weak bladder, then do some kegel exercises! These are supposed to be done by clenching the muscles in your pelvic floor. Keep doing these until you feel them getting stronger!

2. Add fiber to your diet

Fiber is important for a healthy digestive tract, but it can also help strengthen your bladder too. If you want to fix a weak bladder then add more fiber into your diet. You can eat high-fiber foods like oatmeal, flaxseed, popcorn, and nuts.

3. Use the bathroom at certain times

If you wait until its too late to go to the bathroom then your bladder will be weaker than it would have been if you went beforehand! Avoid drinking lots of liquids before bedtime so that you can wake up in the morning with a full bladder.

4. Avoid lifting heavy objects

A weak bladder can sometimes be caused by straining when you lift heavy items. If the pelvic floor feels the strain and its not strong enough, then your bladder might let go. You can easily prevent this by making sure that you lift objects in a healthy way!

5. Lose excess weight

This might seem obvious, but if your weight is over the line then it could cause problems with your bladder. If you are overweight, then losing excess pounds will make your bladder stronger!

Figure Out Where Your Bladder Control Issues Are Coming From

There are lots of different reasons why people experience bladder control concerns, Suzette E. Sutherland, MD, associate professor of urology at the University of Washington School of Medicine and director of the UW Medicine Pelvic Health Center, tells SELF.

The two most common types of urinary incontinence include:

• Stress incontinence: This means the stress from a pressure or forcelike coughing, straining, laughing, or lifting something heavy, for examplecauses you to leak urine.
• Overactive bladder: Urinary frequency, urinary incontinence, and nocturia all fall under this category. Numerous factorsfrom underlying health conditions to lifestyle habits can lead to an overactive bladder.

If you experience both, then its considered mixed incontinence.

A urologist or a urogynecologist can help you figure out what type of incontinence may be at play, and the possible causes contributing to your leakage. Some are related to medical issues that can be fixed relatively quickly others may be trickier to pinpoint and require treatment.

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What Is An Overactive Bladder

An overactive bladder is a condition resulting from the sudden, involuntary contraction of the muscle in the wall of the bladder.

An overactive bladder causes an uncontrollable and unstoppable urge to pass urine and the frequent need to urinate both during the daytime and night, even though the bladder may only contain a small amount of urine. It is sometimes referred to as small bladder syndrome.

The condition affects around 15% of adults , with women affected more frequently than men. The incidence also increases as you get older.

Urinary Incontinence In Women: What You Need To Know

• Urinary incontinence is the accidental loss of urine.

• Over 25 million adult Americans experience temporary or chronic urinary incontinence.

• This condition can occur at any age, but it is more common in women over the age of 50.

• There are four types of urinary incontinence: urgency, stress, functional and overflow incontinence.

• Behavioral therapies, medications, nerve stimulation and surgery are some of the treatments available for managing urinary incontinence.

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Causes And Risk Factors Of Overactive Bladder

Overactive bladder happens when your bladder muscles contract too readily, giving you a stronger or more frequent urge to urinate.

This problem can be caused by incomplete bladder emptying, overactive bladder muscles, or improper nerve signals from your brain that tell your bladder to contract.

Several different health issues can contribute to overactive bladder, including the following:

Duration Of Overactive Bladder

In some people, overactive bladder is the result of health conditions that may improve over time or with treatment. In other people, OAB is caused by lasting or permanent health problems.

How long your OAB lasts will depend on its specific causes, as well as how effective your treatments are for both underlying conditions and OAB.

Even if your OAB doesnt go away completely with treatment, you may be able to reduce its severity or impact on your life. Doing so may include both lifestyle changes to reduce your symptoms and adaptive measures to prepare for symptoms.

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Overactive Bladder And Botox

Botox may be best known as a great wrinkle reducer for the face. But this injection has actually shown great promise as a treatment for many medical conditions.

Most overactive bladder medications aim to calm muscles and nerves in the urinary tract. If these medicines arent effective, your doctor may consider injecting Botox into your bladder muscles. This can help calm the muscles and reduce symptoms of OAB.

Botox injections for overactive bladder are well-tolerated with few side effects. The injections effects typically last six to eight months. After that time, your doctor may want to use another round of injections to control symptoms.

Who Does Overactive Bladder Affect

Overactive bladder is most common in people 65 and older. Women may have OAB at a younger age, usually around 45.

How common is overactive bladder?

Overactive bladder is common. It affects up to 33 million adults in the U.S., including as many as 30% of men and 40% of women. However, that number may be higher because many people may feel embarrassed and wont get help.

How does overactive bladder affect my body?

Overactive bladder symptoms can cause stress and affect your quality of life.

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Revealed: Unusual Causes Of A Weak Bladder And How To Solve Them

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• Your health questions answered

Do you feel like you have a weak bladder? You may leak a bit of pee when you laugh, or sometimes the urge to pee comes on so suddenly that you wet yourself. This loss of bladder control is medically known as urinary incontinence, and its a common problem.

Its particularly common in women, due in part to differences in the female body and things like childbirth and the menopause affecting your bladder and pelvic muscles (read more about common types of urinary incontinence in women.

But there are also some lesser-known causes of a weak bladder. If you dont know why its happening, you may feel frustrated. But there is help available. So read on to learn about some of the more unusual causes of a weak bladder and what you can do about it.

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Signs Of A Bladder Problem

Everyones bladder behaves a little bit differently. But certain signs may mean a bladder problem. If you have signs of a bladder problem, talk with your healthcare provider.

Signs of a bladder problem can include:

• Inability to hold urine or leaking urine
• Needing to urinate eight or more times in one day
• Waking up many times at night to urinate
• Sudden and urgent need to urinate
• Pain or burning before, during, or after urinating
• Cloudy or bloody urine

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Incontinence And Alzheimers Disease

People in the later stages of Alzheimers disease often have problems with urinary incontinence. This can be a result of not realizing they need to urinate, forgetting to go to the bathroom, or not being able to find the toilet. To minimize the chance of accidents, the caregiver can:

• Avoid giving drinks like caffeinated coffee, tea, and sodas, which may increase urination. But dont limit water.
• Keep pathways clear and the bathroom clutter-free, with a light on at all times.
• Make sure you provide regular bathroom breaks.
• Supply underwear that is easy to get on and off.
• Use absorbent underclothes for trips away from home.

For more ways to deal with incontinence and other common medical problems in someone with Alzheimers, visit Alzheimers Disease: Common Medical Problems.

Mind Your Weight & Bowels

Excess weight can cause your pelvic floor muscles to weaken. In turn, your bladder muscles will become weak which can lead to accidents and leakage. The fatty tissue from extra weight adds pressure to your bladder that pelvic floor exercises alone cant combat. Losing weight can help reduce the symptoms of a weak bladder and in many cases cure the problem completely. In addition to your weight, it is also important to eat well-balanced meals with plenty of fiber. Constant bouts of constipation can add pressure on your bladder due to the extra strain placed on your digestive system. The harder you have to work to evacuate your bowels, the weaker your pelvic floor muscles will become. Consider changing your sitting position on the toilet to aid with bowel movements and reduce the pressure on your bowels.

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How Can Nerve Stimulation Help Overactive Bladder

There are several treatments that involve stimulating your nerves to help improve overactive bladder. Your nerves help communicate the message that your bladder needs to be emptied to your brain. By treating the nerves, your healthcare provider can improve your bladder control. Nerve stimulation is a reversible treatment that is considered when conservative treatments have not worked or have not been tolerated. Conservative treatments include behavioral therapies and medications.

There are several types of nerve stimulation treatments. These can include:

Causes Of Overactive Bladder In Men

About two-thirds of overactive bladder cases in men are due to benign prostatic hyperplasia , also called an enlarged prostate. The prostate gland surrounds the urethra, which is the tube that urine passes through from the bladder out of the body.

Although an enlarged prostate does not account for all cases of OAB in men, many who are treated for the symptoms are assumed to have an obstruction in the bladder caused by an enlarged prostate.

Age increases a mans risk of getting OAB. Age also increases a mans risk for BPH, which can lead to OAB.

An infection in the bladder, bladder stones and bladder cancer can cause symptoms that lead to OAB. Neurological conditions, such as a stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinsons disease, cause nerve damage that results in sending the incorrect signals to the bladder that causes OAB. Temporary factors, such as drinking a lot of caffeinated or alcoholic fluids, taking medications that increase urine output or having constipation, might increase the need to urinate.

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Bipoc And Overactive Bladder

The frequency and presentation of overactive bladder differs across different racial and ethnic groups, according to two recent studies.

One study, published in February 2020 in the journal Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery, looked at the severity of OAB symptoms in women of different races and ethnicities.

In the study group, Black women were more likely to experience urinary urgency and frequency, while Hispanic women were more likely to have mixed urinary symptoms.

Compared with white women, Black women were 3.4 times as likely to have bladder muscle overactivity. Hispanic women tended to have significantly less urine volume than white women at the sensation of a strong desire to urinate.

Another study, published in September 2020 in the Journal of Urology, looked at OAB and urgency incontinence in men age 60 to 98 through an incontinence self-reported survey.

The study found that non-Hispanic Black men had the highest prevalence of urgency incontinence at 13 percent. Hispanic men came in at 11.3 percent, with non-Hispanic white men at 6.8 percent and men of Chinese ethnicity at 2.9 percent.

Should I Drink Less Water Or Other Fluids If I Have Urinary Incontinence

No. Many people with urinary incontinence think they need to drink less to reduce how much urine leaks out. But you need fluids, especially water, for good health.

Women need 91 ounces of fluids a day from food and drinks.11 Getting enough fluids helps keep your kidneys and bladder healthy, prevents urinary tract infections, and prevents constipation, which may make urinary incontinence worse.

After age 60, people are less likely to get enough water, putting them at risk for dehydration and conditions that make urinary incontinence worse.12

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What Do We Mean By Small Bladder

Firstly, lets clear up the confusion between having a small bladder and an overactive bladder. Anatomically, its highly unlikely anyone has a small bladder. Our internal organs dont tend to differ from one person to the next.

However, it is possible to have a functionally small bladder, which means your bladder, for any number of reasons, cant hold a lot of urine. Bladder muscles and/or the bladder sphincter muscles become overactive and as a result there is a constant need to void.

Thats why when some people say they have a small bladder, what theyre really suggesting is they have an overactive bladder.

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What Can Affect Bladder Health

Many things can affect bladder health. You cant control everything that affects bladder health, but there are many bladder health behaviors that you can control. Here are some things that may affect your bladder health.

Some activities can increase the risk of urinary tract infections, including:

• Having sex. Sexual activity can move bacteria from the bowel or vaginal cavity to the urethral opening. Urinating after sex lowers the risk of infection.
• Using a catheter to urinate. A catheter is a tube placed in the urethra and bladder to help empty the bladder. The catheter can make a direct path for bacteria to reach the bladder.
• Using certain types of birth control. Diaphragms can bring bacteria with them when they are placed. Spermicides may also make UTIs more likely.

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Treatment Of Excessive Or Frequent Urination

The best way to treat excessive urination is to treat the underlying disorder. For example, diabetes mellitus is treated with diet and exercise plus insulin injections and/or drugs taken by mouth. In some cases, people can reduce excessive urination by decreasing their intake of coffee or alcohol. People troubled by awakening at night to urinate may need to reduce fluids before bedtime.

Children with nighttime urination can also be managed with motivational therapy, in which they are rewarded for practicing behaviors that reduce bedwetting . If motivational therapy does not work, urination alarms may then be tried. If other measures fail, doctors may prescribe oral desmopressin to control excessive thirst and urination

Doctors may also adjust the dosage of diuretics that may contribute to excessive urination. Adults with nocturia can be treated with bladder relaxants and medications to prevent bladder spasms. Resistant cases can also be treated with desmopressin.

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Treatment Of Urinary Incontinence

Treatment usually begins with bladder training and Kegel exercises. Avoiding physical stresses that cause loss of urine and losing weight may help control incontinence. Pseudoephedrine may be useful in women with bladder outlet incompetence. Imipramine may be used for mixed stress and urge incontinence Urge incontinence Urinary incontinence is involuntary loss of urine. Incontinence can occur in both men and women at any age, but it is more common among women and older people, affecting about 30% of older women read more or for either separately. Duloxetine is also used for stress incontinence. If stress incontinence is caused by atrophic urethritis or vaginitis, estrogen cream is often effective. For people with stress incontinence, urinating frequently to avoid a full bladder is often helpful.

For stress incontinence that is not relieved with drugs and behavioral measures, surgery or devices such as pessaries may be helpful. The vaginal sling procedure creates a hammock of support to help prevent the urethra from opening during coughing, sneezing, or laughing. Most commonly, a sling is created from synthetic mesh. Mesh implants are effective, but a few people with mesh implants have serious complications. Alternatively, doctors can create a sling using tissue from the abdominal wall or leg. In men with stress incontinence, a mesh sling or an artificial urinary sphincter implant may be placed around the urethra to prevent leakage of urine.

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What Causes Bladder Leaks

There are two main types of urinary incontinence:

Stress incontinence

If you have this type, activities that raise the pressure inside your abdomen cause urine to leak through the ring of muscle in your bladder that normally holds it in. Coughing, sneezing, jumping and lifting heavy objects could lead to a leak.

Going through childbirth, smoking or being overweight can raise the risk of stress incontinence for women, Wright says. Stress incontinence in men is rare, and when it arises, its often due to prostate cancer treatment, such as radiation or surgery.

Urge incontinence

With this type, your brain, spinal cord and bladder dont work together properly to allow you to hold and release urine at the right time. Your bladder may suddenly empty itself without warning. Or you may feel like you need to urinate frequently, a problem called overactive bladder.

Some diseases that affect the nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis or stroke, can cause this kind of incontinence, says Wright. In men, an enlarged prostate may be the culprit. But in many cases, doctors dont know what causes urge incontinence.

It is possible to have both types of incontinence at the same time.