Is Your Bladder Holding You Back? by Dr. Hailey Jackson

 

Good news for you; bladder urgency and frequency can actually be (and often is) neuromuscular in nature. Along with a laundry list of other musculoskeletal factors that could be playing a role, nerves that talk to the bladder in the pelvis can be agitated, causing increased urinary urgency and frequency, which can be (and typically is) driven by tense muscles. This is a great example of symptoms that can be exacerbated by kegeling. 

 

Additionally, this can be driven by heavy consumptions of bladder irritants (fluids that are just irritating to the lining of the bladder) like coffee, tea, artificial sugar, juice, alcohol and carbonation. Typically when people experience urinary urgency and frequency, they cut back on water consumption thinking it will decrease their symptoms, but it usually does the opposite because of the concentration of irritants in the bladder. Simply increasing water intake will dilute the irritant in the bladder.  

 

So what does “normal” bladder health look like? Urinating 6-8 times per day spaced 2-4 hours apart, waking to urinate up to 1 time per night, not experiencing urinary leakage, and free of burning or pain with urination. 

 

Urinary urgency, frequency and leakage are symptoms I treat often. If one or more of these are affecting your daily life, I would love to help you find the “why” behind your symptoms and lead you to lasting relief so that you can roadtrip or run errands without even knowing where the nearest restroom is.