Do you suffer from urinary urgency the moment you sit down in a movie theater? Or maybe you have the nervous habit of looking for bathrooms everywhere you go. Or how about that track you have worn into your carpet between your bed and the bathroom–the result of getting up to urinate many times a night?
If the above description sounds like you, you likely have a form of women’s urinary incontinence called overactive bladder (OAB) or urge urinary incontinence. If you only experience urinary urgency without leakage, then your condition is most likely OAB or OAB-dry. If you do leak urine, then you probably have the more severe form of OAB, called urge urinary incontinence or OAB-wet.
Now that you know a little more about what is going on with your bladder, wouldn’t it be nice to learn more about the risk factors that cause urinary urgency and leakage? Let’s talk about them…
Risk Factors for OAB and Urge Incontinence
Before we describe the specific risk factors for OAB or urge incontinence, we first want to stress that regardless of these factors, urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage are not normal at any age. Urinary incontinence does tend to occur more frequently as we age, but it is not a normal sign of aging that should simply be ignored. Urinary incontinence can have a severely negative impact on a woman’s quality of life, and thus should be addressed as soon as symptoms appear. Symptoms can be effectively treated, especially if handled early in the process.
Now that we’ve give you our “soapbox” speech, we can get on with describing the risk factors for OAB or urge incontinence. Knowing the risk factors can help you evaluate your lifestyle, current physical condition, and other health conditions to determine whether any of these are causing or worsening your symptoms.
Risk factors that you may already know about include:
– aging
– excessive weight
– smoking
– being a woman (not fair, right?)
– urinary tract infections (especially chronic ones)
– certain medications (such as ones that act as diuretics)
Then there are these risk factors, some of which may surprise you:
– anxiety and similar nervous states
– low levels of estrogen (can cause bladder irritability)
– damage to any nerves associated with the bladder or urinary system (due to stroke, accident, or conditions such as Parkinson’s)
– health conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes
Note that the above risk factors describe more permanent lifestyle conditions that can contribute to urinary urgency and leakage due to OAB or urge incontinence. There are also temporary conditions, called “triggers,” that can aggravate symptoms. We will discuss those in an upcoming article.
In the meantime, we urge you to review the above risk factors to determine whether any of them apply to you. If any do apply, are you willing to change your lifestyle in a significant way to alleviate your bladder symptoms? While there is no way to stop the passage of time (aging) or easily change your gender, you can take action steps to lose weight, quit smoking, talk to your doctor about your medications and health conditions, or reduce the level of stress in your life.
We invite you to browse through the resources on our website to learn more about conservative lifestyle changes that can definitely improve your symptoms. Or, for the full list of possible solutions for women’s urinary incontinence, consider reading a copy of A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Health. This book offers full descriptions of all three types of women’s urinary incontinence, plus three entire chapters chock-full of resources and solutions designed especially for you!
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