Many feel the urge to urinate right after a trip to the restroom. However, some feel a similar urge even when the bladder is not full. This condition is known as an overactive bladder. In some cases, the urine may leak involuntarily, and the condition is called urinary incontinence. Few may also have muscle spasms while urinating. If you are experiencing one or more symptoms, it is important to visit the doctor.

The doctor will then do some tests to identify the type of overactive bladder and begin treatment. Let’s understand the condition better.

What are the types of overactive bladder?
Doctors classify OAB into two: wet and dry OAB. Wet OAB is when you have an urgent need to urinate, and there could be involuntary leakage. Dry OAB is when there is a frequent need to urinate, but there is no leakage. Between the two types of OAB, wet OAB is the more common condition. Doctors will begin treatment once they diagnose the type of OAB.

1. Change in lifestyle
Doctors may recommend a change in diet and lifestyle to reduce the urge for frequent urination. Important changes in lifestyle required to improve OAB are:

Avoid food that irritates the bladder, including tomatoes, soda, caffeine, and chili.
Develop a habit of urinating at regular and fixed intervals to train your bladder.
Lose weight if you have a higher BMI.
Do bladder control exercises to tighten bladder muscles.
Drink adequate water at frequent intervals rather than at one sitting.

2. Medication
Doctors will prescribe medication if the symptoms are severe or if lifestyle changes do not improve your OAB. Though medications may not completely cure OAB, they can reduce the frequency of urination.

Nerve stimulation
Doctors use implants that can help calm and relax the bladder muscles. Sacral nerve stimulation is an implant that is placed above the buttocks to calm the bladder. In another procedure called percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation, doctors use a needle to stimulate the tibial nerve. The needle then sends electrical stimulation from the leg to the spine, where the bladder nerves meet. The procedure has to be done every week for 12 weeks to see improvement in OAB symptoms.

3. Surgery

Augmentation cystoplasty
Doctors do this procedure to increase the bladder capacity. If the incontinence is severe and the person does not respond to any other treatment, doctors use bowel tissue to replace a part of the bladder. The bladder can now store more urine. However, the patient will have to use a catheter regularly to drain the bladder.

Urinary diversion
Doctors do a procedure to fix the ureters or tubes from the bladder outside the body. Urine then flows into a bag called an ostomy bag attached to the tube. You can maintain the bag easily. The surgery or the bag will not disrupt you from doing any of your regular activities.

Bladder removal
This would be the last option for doctors. They will remove the bladder and fix an ostomy bag, and the urine from the kidneys flows into the bag directly.