You are driving home down your street. Almost there. You can see your driveway and out of the blue suddenly realise you need to use the toilet very badly.
Many women I talk to experience urinary urgency. This is where there is an overwhelming urge to urinate that is difficult to put off.
Latchkey urgency is where this specifically applies to when you arrive home. The key goes in the lock and you have to rush for the toilet. Others get the sensation of suddenly needing to go when they are out and about shopping. These ladies normally know where all the public toilets are and don’t like to stray too far from them. When the urge comes, the bladder will not wait!
Urgency can be caused by a number of factors but is essentially a bladder dysfunction where the bladder has learnt to give your brain very strong signals that it needs to go, even sometimes when it is not very full. In some cases the muscle around the bladder will start squeezing as it does normally when you are on the toilet. Only the integrity of the pelvic floor will be able to determine whether there is leakage.
Urinary Urgency can have a big impact on where women feel confident to go, as they always have to know where a toilet is.
Treatment involves looking at a large number of factors that can cause bladder muscle overactivity, deducing which is most relevant. This includes bowel habits and constipation, fluid intake (not too much, not too little, and when) as well as learning to retrain the bladder muscle so it learns not to behave so strongly at triggers such as getting home.
Working out strategies for use at the time, such as distraction, pelvic floor exercises, deep breathing and self-affirmations can all be tremendously useful in retraining an urgent bladder.
In most cases treatment is very successful.
If you suffer from urinary urgency, please make an appointment today to see Natasha – call our helpful front desk team on 6056 6616. They will help you find a day and time that works for you to come in and see Natasha and start taking the first steps to helping you address this important issue.
