Frequent urination is one of the most common symptoms of overactive bladder, or OAB. But how do you know if you’re urinating too frequently? What are the common causes of frequent urination, and what can be done to manage or treat the symptoms?
Read on to learn more about this condition, how it relates to overall bladder health, and how to tackle the challenges that frequent urination causes in your daily life.
Frequent urination is defined as urinating more than eight times per day, or so often that it affects one’s daily life. Frequent urination may be accompanied by other OAB symptoms, such as bladder leaks or nocturia (a medical term for excessive nighttime urination). However, it can occur on its own and still indicate a health problem.
As mentioned above, frequent urination is a common symptom of OAB, an umbrella term describing a collection of symptoms including frequent urination, nocturia (getting up to urinate at night), urinary urgency (having to rush to get to the bathroom) and urgency incontinence (leaking urine before making it to the bathroom). Patients may suffer from one of these symptoms, which can have a significant impact on quality of life.
While many people experience frequent urination on occasion, chronic or sudden acute frequent urination can indicate an underlying medical problem and should be given medical attention. As mentioned above, OAB is a common cause, but some non-OAB related causes of frequent urination include:
In addition to the medical causes above, frequent urination can be caused by lifestyle: e.g., excessive fluid consumption (especially those with diuretic properties such as caffeine or alcohol) or use of diuretic medications (“water pills”), such as those prescribed for high blood pressure. Frequent urination is also sometimes related to anxiety.
In general, yes – but to get the right treatment, it’s crucial for your doctor to be able to determine the underlying cause of your frequent urination symptoms. While some cases of frequent urination can be resolved through noninvasive and/or lifestyle interventions, others may be caused by serious health conditions that require more advanced treatment.
The best thing you can do is to track your symptoms by keeping a detailed bladder diary. Record the following information to share with your care provider:
Answering these questions on a daily basis and sharing the information with your doctor can help your doctor identify what may be triggering your symptoms, an important step for diagnosis and treatment.
Those living with OAB are all too familiar with the interruptions frequent urination causes in one’s day-to-day life. Frequent trips to the bathroom can impact one’s ability to be productive at work, freely enjoy leisure time, have healthy sex lives, exercise, and more. Below are just a few of the coping mechanisms people with OAB-related frequent urination rely on to manage their symptoms:
As you can see, without medical advice or intervention, self-management of OAB-related frequent urination symptoms can severely restrict a person’s daily life. Is there hope for actually reducing your bathroom trips so you can participate as fully as you want in activities like travel, leisure, and exercise? Below, learn more about your options.
As with other types of OAB, treatment for frequent urination usually starts with non-invasive lifestyle changes. If those don’t suffice to address the underlying causes of frequent urination, care providers may suggest medication, alternative medicine such as acupuncture, or advanced therapies.
Axonics’® sacral neuromodulation therapy uses a small implant to restore healthy communication between the brain and bladder. Read more about the Axonics System today to find out if it’s the right choice for you.
Axonics does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The contents of this website are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.