What does a hyperactive bladder mean?
Overactive bladder, also called OAB, causes a frequent and sudden urge to urinate that may be difficult to control.
You may feel like you need to pass urine many times during the day and night.
If you have an overactive bladder, you may feel embarrassed, isolate yourself, or limit your work and social life. The good news is that a brief evaluation can determine whether there's a specific cause for your overactive bladder symptoms.
You may be able to manage symptoms of an overactive bladder with simple behavioral strategies, such as dietary changes, timed voiding and bladder-holding techniques using your pelvic floor muscles. If these initial efforts don't help enough with your overactive bladder symptoms, additional treatments are available.
Symptoms
If you have an overactive bladder, you may:
- Feel a sudden urge to urinate that's difficult to control
- Experience unintentional loss of urine immediately after an urgent need to urinate (urgency incontinence)
- Urinate frequently, usually eight or more times in 24 hours
- Wake up more than two times in the night to urinate (nocturia)
Causes
The cause of an overactive bladder is involuntary contraction of the bladder muscles and even if the amount of urine in the bladder is low. It is because of these involuntary contractions that a sudden urge to urinate arises.
- Neurological disorders, such as stroke and multiple sclerosis
- Diabetes
- Urinary tract infections
- Hormonal changes during menopause in women
- Abnormalities in the bladder
- Certain medications
- Excess consumption of caffeine or alcohol
- Declining cognitive function due to aging
- Difficulty walking, which can lead to bladder urgency if you're unable to get to the bathroom quickly
- Incomplete bladder emptying
Source:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/overactive-bladder/symptoms-
causes/syc-20355715
