Underactive Bladder Vs. Overactive Bladder: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments
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2024-07-25T12:42:48Z
Over the years, cases of incontinence have been on the rise worldwide. According to a report, there are 423 million people worldwide who experience some form of urinary incontinence. That being said, the main reason for incontinence is the dysfunction of the urinary bladder.The bladder holds urine and lets it out through the urethra upon being full and receiving signals from the brain. When the bladder doesn't function normally, it leads to leakages or untimely urination. This condition can be categorized as Underactive Bladder and Overactive Bladder. While both conditions affect bladder functioning, they do so in contrasting ways, leading to different causes and solutions. So, understanding the difference between them can play a significant role in managing incontinence. Do you want to know more about them and enhance your incontinence management process? Keep reading!This blog will explore the difference between underactive and overactive bladder and provide solutions to help you manage these conditions.
Understanding Overactive Bladder (OAB)
According to research, over 10,000 samples in Europe have overactive bladders. Out of these, 36% are men and 43% women. An overactive bladder has a tremendous impact on an individual's life by affecting their daily activities and social function.With an overactive bladder condition, an individual feels a sudden urge or need to urinate. In fact, many times, you leak without feeling any urge. All this happens when the bladder muscle squeezes to force urine even before it is full or without warning. It doesn't wait for the brain signals and reacts in advance.
What are the Symptoms of an overactive bladder?
If you want to know whether you experience an overactive bladder, the following symptoms might help;
Uncontrollable Urge: One of the significant symptoms of an overactive bladder is the sudden urge you can't ignore. The desire is so strong that you fear leakage if you are unable to go to the bathroom.
Frequent Trips to Bathroom: If you have an overactive bladder, it is usual to make multiple trips to the bathroom. On average, this number is close to eight trips in 24 hours.
Night Trips to Bathroom: Also known as Nocturia, you might make bathroom trips twice at night after hindering your sleep.
Urge Incontinence: It happens when you suddenly have the urge to go to the bathroom and leak.
All these symptoms affect your daily life significantly and can differ from person to person. Hence, sometimes, it can be challenging to identify without the help of a healthcare provider. Nevertheless, knowing the symptoms of an overactive bladder can help you find the best solution to meet your needs.
What Are The Primary Causes Of Overactive Bladder?
The main cause of an overactive bladder is the injury to a detrusor muscle, which is the collection of muscle fiber present around the bladder wall. Reasons behind the injury include:
Weaken pelvic muscle: This is common in women. During pregnancy and childbirth, the pelvic muscles are stretched to their limit. This may weaken them and cause the bladder to sag out of its normal position, resulting in incontinence after childbirth.
Damage to nerves: Nerves are the communication lines between your bladder and brain. However, when these nerves are damaged due to certain diseases and traumas such as Parkinsons’ disease,multiple sclerosis, or stroke, the signal from the brain fails to reach the bladder muscle at the right time.
Consumption of alcohol, meditation, and caffeine: Excessive consumption of all these can decrease the strength of a nerve, which affects its ability to send signals to the brain and bladder.
Urinary tract infection: It can damage the bladder muscle and cause it to squeeze without any warning.
Exploring Underactive Bladder (UAB)
In a study on the prevalence of underactive bladder, it was found that older populations are more prone to underactive bladder. You have an underactive bladder when the contraction of bladder muscles is unable to push the urine out of it. This is because contraction impact and duration have decreased. Additionally, in this condition, urethra muscles don't function according to brain signals, leading to a prolonged period of emptying the bladder. As a result, the bladder is never entirely emptied.
What are the Symptoms of underactive bladder
You can diagnose underactive bladder by observing the following symptoms;
Difficulty Passing Urine: This is the most common complaint among individuals with underactive bladder. Individuals tend to feel the urge but are unable to pass urine.
Overflow Incontinence: It happens when urine is not constantly passed, and the bladder is unable to empty. This would lead to bladder overflowing.
Decrease Time Between Bathroom Trips: When you have an underactive bladder, it isn’t emptied, leading to frequent urges and bathroom trips.
Reduced Sensation in Bladder: Another symptom to look for is the decreased sensation in the bladder when it's overfilled.
What are the main causes of an underactive bladder?
The causes behind the underactive bladder are divided into two categories;
Neurogenic Underactive Bladder
Myogenic Underactive Bladder
Neurogenic Underactive Bladder
When the underactive bladder condition is caused by damage to the nerves, it is categorized as neurogenic underactive bladder. Here, the nerves get damaged due to the following reasons:
Surgery Of Pelvic Region
Diabetes
Multiple Sclerosis
Parkinson's Disease
Infection Affecting Nervous System
Myogenic Underactive Bladder
This condition is caused by damage to the bladder muscle due to below-mentioned reasons;
Prostate Enlargement
Overstretching Of the Bladder due to pregnancy and childbirth
Chronic Blockage of Bladder Flow
Diabetes
How to Overcome Challenges Of Bladder Conditions
To effectively manage bladder conditions, begin by making some simple lifestyle changes. Making such changes can help manage and control the symptoms effectively. Some of the lifestyle changes you can adopt are;
1. Use Absorbent Products
It is the easiest way to manage bladder issues, and you have numerous options ranging from adult diapers, adult briefs, bed pads, and booster pads. All these incontinenceproducts are made of high-absorbing polymer material, and the latest technology is used to help absorb leakages throughout the day and avoid diaper rash. However, always ensure to buy quality absorbent products as the market is full of low-quality products. Having said that, Wellness Adult Diapers, including theSuperiobriefs, exemplify high-quality incontinence products. These adult diapers are designed to last up to 8 hours using NASA-inspired multi-layer InconTek® technology. In addition, they are environment-friendly, skin-friendly, and odor-free.
2. Schedule Bathroom Trips
Instead of frequent bathroom visits, schedule your bathroom trips throughout the day. Doing so helps you empty the bladder on time and avoid overflowing. Moreover, this also helps strengthen bladder muscles by holding urine and releasing it at scheduled times.
3. Practice Pelvic Floor Exercises/ Kegel Exercise
As already discussed, numerous factors can weaken pelvic muscles and hence lead to bladder issues. You can regain the strength of the pelvic muscle by practicingKegel Exercises regularly. Wondering how to do that?
Tighten or squeeze your pelvic muscle for three seconds, and then relax.
Practice it at least three times a day with 10-15 repetitions in a single set.
If you don't experience any bladder condition or health, improvement even after adopting these lifestyle changes, consult your medical practitioner.
According to research, over 10,000 samples in Europe have overactive bladders. Out of these, 36% are men and 43% women.
An overactive bladder has a tremendous impact on an individual's life by affecting their daily activities and social function.
With an overactive bladder condition, an individual feels a sudden urge or need to urinate. In fact, many times, you leak without feeling any urge. All this happens when the bladder muscle squeezes to force urine even before it is full or without warning. It doesn't wait for the brain signals and reacts in advance.
In a study on the prevalence of underactive bladder, it was found that older populations are more prone to underactive bladder.
You have an underactive bladder when the contraction of bladder muscles is unable to push the urine out of it. This is because contraction impact and duration have decreased.
Additionally, in this condition, urethra muscles don't function according to brain signals, leading to a prolonged period of emptying the bladder. As a result, the bladder is never entirely emptied.
To effectively manage bladder conditions, begin by making some simple lifestyle changes. Making such changes can help manage and control the symptoms effectively.
Some of the lifestyle changes you can adopt are;
