Take Charge: Seek Your Doctors Advice
Approximately 80% of those affected by urinary incontinence can be cured or improved, yet only one in 12 people with incontinence issues seek help. Talk to your doctor about your bladder control as it can dramatically improve your lifestyle.
Your doctor can investigate and establish a cause for your overactive bladder. Treatment can then be tailored to this cause and may involve medications, bladder retraining, pelvic floor exercises, absorbent products, surgery, or combinations of these options.
Plus, consider joining the Drugs.com Overactive Bladder Support Group. Here, you can connect with people with similar questions and concerns, share your experiences, and keep up with the latest new drug approvals, ongoing research, and medical news.
Pelvic Floor Exercises Can Help Immensely
You cant see your pelvic floor muscles however, just like other muscles in your body they lose their strength if they are not put to use.
Pelvic floor exercises help strengthen the pelvic floor when done consistently at least twice a day. How are they done?
- Imagine you are holding back gas or urine.
- Squeeze and lift the rectal area without tightening your buttocks or belly. Try and hold it for a count of three before relaxing. Repeat this cycle 10 times. Do 10 sets of Kegel exercises, at least 3 times a day.
- Increase your contractions as your doctor recommends.
- Do not hold your breath when you do Kegel exercises. Keep your stomach, back, and leg muscles relaxed.
- Don’t use Kegel exercises to start and stop your urine stream which can lead to incomplete emptying of the bladder and an increased risk of a urinary tract infection.
Review our information about Kegel exercises for both women and men to learn more about the techniques.
What Medications Can I Use For Overactive Bladder
Your doctor may suggest trying behavioral techniques before having you use a medication to treat overactive bladder. However, medications can work very well to return normal function to the bladder. Ask your doctor about the risks and benefits of using the following commonly prescribed medications:
Anticholinergic medications
These medications control muscle spasms in the bladder:
- Oxybutynin , oxybutynin XL , oxybutynin TDDS .
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Cinnamon For Continuous Urination
Cinnamon is one of the best natural medicine for frequent urination caused by urinary tract infection and vaginitis. It can kill fungus, bacteria, germs, and parasites. Thus, it also reduces the problems of excessive discharge, improper menstrual cycle, and bad vaginal odor.
How To Stop Frequent Urination Feeling With Cinnamon?
You should drink cinnamon tea regularly to avoid over urination in the first hand by keeping your system clean from infections. Otherwise, if you have already developed the problem of frequent urination, you can make a cinnamon paste for instant relief from repeated urination.
Required Ingredients
Steps To Make And Apply Cinnamon Paste To Cure Burning Sensation After Urination
- Take 1 tsp cinnamon powder and ? tsp colorless henna in a bowl
- Add cold distilled water in the bowl and stir until you get the desired semi-liquid consistency
- Refrigerate the mixture for 15 minutes
- In the meantime, massage your pelvic area and vulva with warm cinnamon oil
- Apply the cold paste directly over the freshly massaged surface
- Wash with clean water and apply every alternate day for 2 weeks to get rid of frequent urination feeling
Why It Works?
Cinnamon is anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and analgesic. It is rich in vitamin C, E, K, and riboflavin. Thus, it can treat all kinds of infections like UTI and vaginitis. On the other hand, colorless henna is a cooling agent that reduces burning sensation after urination.
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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When To See A Health Care Provider And What To Expect
Talk to your health care provider if you have urinary incontinence or any signs of a bladder problem, such as:
- Needing to urinate more frequently or suddenly
- Urinating eight or more times in one day
- Passing only small amounts of urine after strong urges to urinate
- Trouble starting or having a weak stream while urinating
Your doctor may recommend urodynamic testing and perform the following to try to figure out what might be causing your bladder problem:
- Give you a physical exam and take your medical history.
- Ask about your symptoms and the medications you take.
- Take urine and blood samples.
- Examine the inside of your bladder using a cystoscope a long, thin tube that slides up into the bladder through the urethra. This is usually done by a urinary specialist.
- Fill the bladder with warm fluid and use a cystoscope to check how much fluid your bladder can hold before leaking.
- Order or perform a bladder ultrasound to see if you are fully emptying your bladder with each void.
- Ask you to keep a daily diary of when you urinate and when you leak urine. Your primary care doctor may also send you to a urologist, a doctor who specializes in urinary tract problems.
Can Frequent Urination Be Controlled Or Stopped
Frequent urination can be controlled, and often, stopped over time and with treatment. Your healthcare provider will usually start by determining the cause of your symptom. If the condition can be treated, you should see a decrease in how often you need to urinate. Treatment depends completely on the condition. In cases like a UTI, you may need an antibiotic medication. This may be prescribed by your healthcare provider and you should feel better once you have finished the medication. Other conditions like diabetes or prostate problems will require a trip to see a specialist. The specialist will work with you to manage your symptoms and improve your daily routine. If your healthcare provider has diagnosed you with overactive bladder syndrome, pelvic floor physical therapy may help and there are actually several medications that can be used to calm your bladder. Talk to your healthcare provider about whether or not these might be good options for you.
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What Are Some Home Remedies For Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence is a condition that strikes a number of persons, not just older people. While the condition can be a source of embarrassment and may eventually cause the individual to curtail his or her social life, there are a number of things that can be done to minimize and possibly even reverse the condition. Home remedies for urinary incontinence, including losing weight, exercising the muscles involved, and taking certain herbs, have been used for a long time, and they may hold the key to correcting the problem for some individuals.
In days gone buy, urinary incontinence was sometimes referred to as slippage. The problem would often appear after a man or woman had gained a significant amount of weight. The extra poundage around the middle would put additional pressure on the bladder and, in turn, the pelvic muscles that may be weaker due to lack of regular exercise would not be able to provide adequate support. The result was a sudden sense of needing to urinate, followed by the uncontrolled flow of urine. A combination of losing weight and walking for 30 minutes in the evenings to tone the midsection and strengthen the pelvic muscles could help relieve this problem.
A Urinary Tract Infection
Most women have at least one urinary tract infection at some point in their lives. UTIs happen when bacteria or something else infects parts of your urinary system, which includes your bladder, urethra and kidneys. Besides frequent urination, signs of a UTI include fever, a burning feeling when you pee, discolored urine and constantly feeling like you need to pee . You may also feel bladder pressure or discomfort in your back or around your pelvis.
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Stick To A Urinating Schedule
One other way you can train your bladder is to create a urinating schedule and stick to it.
Most women should be able to avoid going to the bathroom for about three to six hours at a time.
Set certain times each day that you will urinate, and as the weeks go on, make the intervals farther and farther apart. Think of it like training for a marathon you have to start small. By doing this, you should be able to train your brain and your bladder to not feel the urge as much.
If you feel like you cant make it to the next scheduled bathroom trip, try using relaxation techniques to hold it.
What Are The Specific Symptoms Of Overactive Bladder
Overactive bladder represents a collection of symptoms that can include:
- Urinary urgency: This is a failure to be able to postpone the need to urinate. When you feel you need to urinate, you have a limited amount of time to get to a bathroom.
- Frequency of urination: People who experience this symptom need to urinate very often. Typically its an increase in the number of times you urinate compared to what you previously experienced.
- Urge incontinence: In this case, there can be a leakage of urine when you get the urge to urinate.
- Nocturia: This symptom is characterized by the need to get up and urinate at least two times each night.
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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.
Weight Loss & Health Improvements To Reduce Your Symptoms
Studies suggest that losing excess weight can reduce the symptoms of stress incontinence and an overactive bladder.
What does this mean exactly? If you can lose about 8 percent of your body weight thats typically around 15 to 20 pounds you will likely see remarkable results. In fact, even just a few pounds of weight loss can reduce incontinence episodes by over 25%.
Aside from all the other health benefits, by losing weight the abdomen will alleviate pressure on all the organs in the area, including the bladder.
As well as weight loss, getting regular exercise can reduce overactive bowel symptoms. Exercise can help to reduce the strain on your bladder which ultimately means less urine leaks.
Stopping smoking can also help with OAB problems since the smoke from cigarettes can irritate your bladder. Smoking can also lead to hacking cough a loud, dry cough which can cause further leaks.
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Control Your Urge To Urinate
You may be able to control, or suppress, the strong urge to urinate, which is called urge or urgency suppression. With this type of bladder training, you can worry less about finding a bathroom in a hurry. Some people distract themselves to take their minds off needing to urinate. Other people find that long, relaxing breaths or holding still can help. Doing pelvic floor exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor also can help control the urge to urinate. Quick, strong squeezes of the pelvic floor muscles can help suppress urgency when it occurs, which may help you get to the toilet before you leak.
Medicine For Stress Incontinence
If stress incontinence does not significantly improve with lifestyle changes or exercises, surgery will usually be recommended as the next step.
However, if you’re unsuitable for surgery or want to avoid an operation, you may benefit from an antidepressant medicine called duloxetine. This can help increase the muscle tone of the urethra, to help keep it closed.
You’ll need to take duloxetine tablets twice a day and will be assessed after 2 to 4 weeks to see if the medicine is beneficial or causing any side effects.
Possible side effects of duloxetine can include:
Do not suddenly stop taking duloxetine, as this can also cause unpleasant side effects. A GP will reduce your dose gradually.
Duloxetine is not suitable for everyone, however, so a GP will discuss any other medical conditions you have to determine if you can take it.
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Eating To Reduce Constipation
Sometimes constipation can place extra pressure on your bladder. You can prevent constipation by exercising regularly and including more fiber in your diet. Foods high in fiber include beans, whole-wheat breads, fruits, and vegetables.
The Cleveland Clinic recommends eating 2 tablespoons of a mixture of 1 cup of applesauce, 1 cup unprocessed wheat bran, and 3/4 cup of prune juice every morning to promote bowel regularity.
Symptoms Of Urinary Incontinence
The sudden and frequent urge to urinate is common to both an OAB and a UTI. However, if you dont have discomfort while urinating, a common symptom of a UTI, its likely youre experiencing an overactive bladder. Additionally, symptoms associated with an OAB will be continuous, whereas symptoms of a UTI are sudden and may be accompanied by a fever.
The symptoms of an overactive bladder can vary from person to person, but some common symptoms include:
- A strong and sudden urgency to go to the bathroom more frequently than average, which is 6-8 times per day and once at night.
- The inability to hold your urine, or delay going to the bathroom when the sudden urge to urinate hits.
- Experiencing any amount of leakage when you need to urinate.
Essentially, having an overactive bladder means your bladder has difficulty storing your urine. While having an OAB does not affect your lifespan, it does negatively impact your quality of life. It can cause disruptions at work, embarrassment in relationships, and reduce sleep quality.
Treating symptoms early can help you manage, or in some cases cure, your condition. Lets review the types of urinary incontinence before discussing ways to remedy it naturally.
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Kegel Exercises And Muscle Training
Your bladder is lined with muscle tissues, so like any other workout, you can strengthen it.
Kegel exercises are a good place to start in addition to regularly exercising. These pelvic exercises are supposed to help train and strengthen your muscles so that it doesnt keep contracting.
Kegel exercises can be pretty easy to do. Here are some to start with that you can try to help control your frequent urination:
- When youre urinating, trying stopping in the middle of it. The muscles that you will use to do these are your pelvic floor muscles which can help control frequent urination.
- When you dont feel the need to pee and when you know your bladder is empty, try tightening those muscles. Hold the muscles for five seconds and then relax for another five seconds. Repeat this five times a day. When you feel like you have that under control, then do it 10 times a day for 10 seconds and so on.
Diagnosing The Cause Of Frequent Urination
If urinary frequency interferes with your lifestyle or is accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, back or side pain, vomiting, chills, increased appetite or thirst, fatigue, bloody or cloudy urine, or a discharge from the or , it’s important to see your doctor.
To diagnose the cause of frequent urination, your doctor will perform a physical exam and take a medical history, asking questions such as the following:
- Are you taking any medications?
- Are you experiencing other symptoms?
- Do you have the problem only during the day or also at night?
- Are you drinking more than usual?
- Is your urine darker or lighter than usual?
- Do you drink alcohol or caffeinated beverages?
Depending on the findings of the physical exam and medical history, your doctor may order tests, including:
Blood Tests. Routine blood test can check for kidney function, electrolytes, and blood sugars
Urinalysis. The microscopic examination of urine that also involves a number of tests to detect and measure various compounds that pass through the urine.
Cystometry. A test that measures the pressure inside of the bladder to see how well the bladder is working cystometry is done to determine if a muscle or nerve problem may be causing problems with how well the bladder holds or releases urine. Thereâs a broader term called urodynamics that includes tests such as cystometry, uroflowmetry, urethral pressure and others.
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Conservative Ways To Treat Urinary Incontinence Include:
- Dietary changes Try to eliminate or cut back on how much caffeine you consume, such as in coffee and tea. In addition, limit the amount of carbonated drinks and acidic foods, such as oranges and pineapples, in your diet. Caffeine prompts your body to get rid of fluids, which causes you to need to urinate. Also, the acids in carbonated drinks and some foods can irritate your bladder and cause you to go more often.
- Manage constipation For some people, urinary incontinence is a symptom of constipation. Your rectum is located near your bladder and shares many of the same nerves. Hard, compacted stool in your rectum can cause these nerves to be overactive and increase urinary frequency.
- Physical therapy A therapist can explain different exercises to do to strengthen the muscles that help control urination. Also known as Kegels, these exercises are especially effective for stress incontinence but also may help urge incontinence.