Taking Back Control of an Overactive Bladder

Your usually active, social life has shrunk thanks to an overactive bladder stripping you of the ability to head out with confidence. You’re worried about involuntary leakage and figuring out whether there will be restrooms available for your more frequent trips to urinate.

It may be of some comfort to know that you’re not alone with these frustrating experiences — overactive bladder (OAB) affects slightly more than 22% of women in the United States.

Our board-certified physician team at North Atlanta OB/GYN, including urogynecologists, routinely helps patients maintain bladder control when dealing with overactive bladder. Here’s how.

Overactive bladder 101

Here, we describe OAB to help you better understand how our treatments work. 

OAB is a condition in which you have frequent and sudden urges to urinate, even if your bladder isn’t full or you’ve just gone.

The mechanism behind OAB is complex, but it most often involves an interaction between your nerves and the muscles in your bladder. The detrusor muscle forms the smooth walls of your bladder, and with OAB, it contracts involuntarily, creating an urge to urinate.

Several conditions can encourage OAB, such as:

• Neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease
• Abdominal trauma, such as surgery
• Menopause, which can lead to urge incontinence
• Certain medications, such as diuretics
• Too much alcohol or caffeine intake

Of this list, menopause is the most common driver, which makes sense given that it’s a journey that most women make in their late 40s or early 50s.

Do you have an overactive bladder?

Overactive bladder symptoms are hard to ignore, but we outline them briefly. People typically urinate about 7-8 times a day. It's considered an overactive bladder if you’re running to the bathroom far more than that, including at night.

That said, there are plenty of conditions that can lead to frequent urination, such as a urinary tract infection or something far less serious like simply drinking too much water. Context matters with OAB — if you’ve been struggling with frequent urination for some time now and you have no other issues, then it’s more likely to be OAB.

Taking back control of an overactive bladder

If we find that you have OAB, there are several treatment options, and we often recommend a combination of the following:

• Bladder training
• Hormone replacement therapy and/or vaginal estrogen creams
• Addressing constipation, if necessary, because stool in your rectum can push on your bladder
• Losing weight if you have obesity (extra pounds can stress the bladder)
• Prescription medications designed specifically for OAB, such as anticholinergics, antispasmodics, and beta-3 agonists
• Botox® injections to quiet overactive bladder muscles
• Nerve stimulation to disrupt the messaging between your bladder and your nervous system

In addition to these treatments, we also outline some practices at home, such as timing caffeine and fluid intake.

We have plenty of treatment options for OAB and can ensure the right combination to help you gain better control over your bladder

To visit one of our specialists to review your OAB options, schedule an appointment by phone or online today at one of our offices in Atlanta, Alpharetta, or Marietta, Georgia.