11 ways STOP Overactive Bladder | Overactive Bladder Symptoms & treatment

Do you find yourself running to the bathroom  all the time, or having this strong urge to   run to the bathroom but you can't make it and  sometimes having accidents, or are you waking   up all night to go to the bathroom well you  might have overactive bladder. I'm Dr. Rena   Malek urologist and pelvic surgeon and today  we're going to talk all about overactive bladder   if you're new here I make content every week about  sexual health bladder health urologic health and   so much more make sure if you like this content  subscribe and share this channel with your friends so what are the symptoms of overactive bladder  well there's four major symptoms one is   frequency or having to go to the bathroom more  often than usual and the definition that we use   is more than eight times a day is considered  abnormal of course if you're drinking a lot   more water you're gonna go to the bathroom a lot  more but if it's affecting your quality of life   then that's something that is concerning another  thing is urgency which is essentially the sudden   desire or urge to run to the bathroom that you  cannot hold off you can't delay at all sometimes   this can be associated with bladder leakage or  having an accident this is called urgency urinary   incontinence and lastly waking up at night to  urinate more than one time is considered abnormal   and this is called nocturia so those are all the  symptoms that taken together make up overactive   bladder and the most important thing about these  symptoms is how they affect your quality of life   overactive bladder essentially is a problem that  affects quality of life but it's not that simple   it can affect more than just how bothered you  are it can affect how productive you are at   work if you're always running to the bathroom you  certainly can't get work done it can affect your   social relationships and cause isolation because  you don't feel like you can go to the bathroom   sometimes people have to even map out where the  bathrooms are wherever they go because they're   afraid of having an accident or they can't go to  the movies or go on long trips because they really   have to go to the bathroom so frequently that  it makes it impossible and financially this can   be very problematic you can end up spending lots  and lots of money on absorbent pads and diapers   and underwear and bedding and all that can really  add up so taken together this can be a really big   problem and when they've looked at studies about  how many people have overactive bladder they   found that about 16 of the population has these  symptoms that's not a small number of people also   it can affect your relationships in the bedroom  so if you're having accidents during sex it's   going to potentially inhibit your desire to have  sex so what causes overactive bladder well age   is a common cause many times people will develop  symptoms of overactive bladder related to age that   doesn't mean it's normal to have these symptoms it  just means that that is a cause of these symptoms   also being overweight can contribute to urinary  incontinence or leakage in fact when they look at   women who are obese they have a threefold times  more likelihood of having urinary incontinence   episodes compared to women who are not obese also  having a history of vaginal deliveries or multiple   pregnancies can contribute as well other medical  problems can also cause overactive bladder the   most common ones are things like diabetes  depression having a history of a surgery   either a hysterectomy or radiation to the area and  other neurologic conditions like having multiple   sclerosis parkinson's disease spinal cord injuries  or stroke all can contribute to symptoms of   overactive bladder also if you've had surgery like  a mid urethral sling or a public vaginal sling for   stress urinary incontinence those are surgeries  for leakage that occur with coughing sneezing   lifting exercise those surgeries can also cause  what we call obstruction or blockage of the p-tube   which can lead to worsening overactive bladder  symptoms other things to consider are maybe if   you're having recurrent urinary tract infections  that can cause symptoms of overactive bladder as   well as certain medications like water pills  very often if you're taking diuretics or water   pills for high blood pressure or swelling that can  make your overactive bladder symptoms much worse   when you come to see a urologist for your symptoms  of overactive bladder first we're going to ask you   several questions about your symptoms when do they  happen how many pads a day are you using what's   bothering you the most about it how often are you  going to the bathroom during the day and at night   also what's your history do you have any medical  problems or surgeries in the past that might be   contributing to this then we'll do a physical  examination and during that exam we'll look for   any abnormalities that might be contributing  to symptoms of overactive bladder like cysts   underneath the urethra or around the urethra or  p tube and men will do a prostate exam to see   if there's any enlarged prostate which can very  often cause symptoms of overactive bladder if you   want to learn more about a prostate exam make sure  you see my last video about doing prostate exams   on men where i react to the try guys also we'll  check your urine to make sure there's no blood or   urinary tract infections because that could signal  other problems we'll also do a bladder scan or a   post void residual and what that is is a little  ultrasound that we do on the bladder to see how   well you're emptying your bladder are you emptying  well or is your leakage happening because you have   a lot of urine left over after you urinate and  you're not completely emptying so i have a really   special surprise for you guys i have a over active  bladder guide which i've created for you guys   completely free make sure you look at the link  in the description down below and it'll help you   figure out exactly what symptoms you have how  to manage those symptoms and if you're having   to care for someone with overactive bladder how  to do that so make sure you check it out download   it completely for free in the description below  so what are treatments for overactive bladder   as i mentioned earlier being overweight can  contribute to symptoms of overactive bladder   and studies have shown that losing as little as  eight percent of your body weight so if you're   200 pounds that's about 16 pounds of weight  that you can actually significantly improve   your urinary symptoms so that's a great place  to start another thing to do is to avoid bladder   irritants i made an entire video about bladder  irritants which you can check out but the simple   things that you can avoid are alcohol caffeine for  some people spicy foods acidic foods artificial   sweeteners and carbonated beverages but what i  tell people is don't dramatically change your life   eliminate one thing see how it goes for a few  days if it doesn't make a difference you can   put it back in and try to eliminate something  else don't drive yourself crazy over this other   things you can do are make sure you're drinking  enough but not too much so you don't want to over   drink because that means you're going to  go to the bathroom more often and if you   under drink actually that can create your urine to  be more concentrated which can then irritate the   bladder lining what i tell my patients is drink  whatever you want with breakfast lunch and dinner   and then sip on a bottle of water throughout the  day but don't take big gulps and try to make some   major amount of fluid in fact if you do that and  you're eating fruits and vegetables and smoothies   and soups you're going to have plenty of fluid  you're not going to be dehydrated of course if   you feel thirsty you should always drink another  big thing is avoiding constipation constipation   is a big problem and the reason for that is  because the rectum sits right behind the bladder   so when it gets full because you haven't had a  bowel movement it actually pushes on the bladder   making it have less room to expand so that you  have more urgency and frequency and worse symptoms   lastly if you smoke you want to quit smoking  smoking not only worsens symptoms of overactive   bladder but also a risk factor for bladder cancer  so it's really important to quit smoking you can   also see a pelvic floor physical therapist and  they can help you do exercises that can help   retrain your bladder so what i tell people is when  you get the urge to urinate it's like a bell curve   and when you hit that urge really strongly you  typically run to the bathroom before the urge goes   away but if you wait and you distract yourself  with quick kegel exercises you'll notice that   the urge will slowly go away and after it goes  away you can calmly walk to the bathroom of course   before you start any kegel exercises make sure you  see a urologist to get an exam to make sure you   don't have other issues like a high toned pelvic  floor that might be causing problems as well   if these don't work then there are medications  that are available to you that can help reduce   either the contractions or squeeze of the bladder  or can help the bladder relax you can check out my   video with a little more detail about overactive  bladder medications i did previously to learn more   about them and if those don't work there are still  other treatments available there are things like   a bladder pacemaker which i made a video about  previously there's also a bladder botox where we   do injections in the bladder wall with botox that  lasts about six to nine months so it is a repeated   procedure that's done every six to nine months  but both that and the bladder pacemaker about 80   effective in reducing symptoms of overactive  bladder lastly there's percutaneous tibial nerve   stimulation and that's kind of like acupuncture  where we put a little needle in the ankle   that stimulates the posterior tibial nerve and  that nerve goes all the way up to the roots   that then stimulate the bladder and so actually  stimulating that nerve for 30 minutes once a week   for 12 weeks and then once a month after that  can actually help people improve their symptoms   about 60 to 70 percent there's also a new device  on the market that's an implantable device that   can go in the ankle that will then automatically  stimulate you at home so you don't have to come   to the office so frequently and that's also in  early studies very promising showing up to 70   improvement in overactive bladder symptoms after  a quick straightforward procedure in the office   so i want you to rest assured that we have  lots of tools in our toolbox to help improve   your overactive bladder so if you're suffering  please see a urologist and we can help improve   your overactive bladder as always you want to  take care of yourself because you're worth it

Channel: Rena Malik, M.D.

Views: 1,023,621

Keywords: Rena Malik MD, urology, urologist, Rena Malik, overactive bladder treatment, overactive bladder, overactive bladder in men, Overactive bladder in women, overactive bladder symptoms, overactive bladder frequency, overactive bladder medication, bladder surgery for overactive bladder, kegel exercise for overactive bladder, ptns for overactive bladder, how to cure overactive bladder, medicine for overactive bladder, how to stop overactive bladder, botox for overactive bladder

Id: vbXUdNxXyqc

Length: 10min 21sec (621 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 08 2022