Back toUpdated on October 23, 2024
See how the bladder functions in a patient living with an overactive bladder in this revolutionary, three-dimensional video from Sharecare’s Virtual Reality Lab.
Medically reviewed in December 2019.
Transcript
Having an overactive bladder can be inconvenient, embarrassing, and downright uncomfortable.
Hi, I'm Dr. Darria Long Gillespie, and I'm here to explain how overactive bladder happens and how you can treat the condition.
To get started, let's go under the skin. First, let's take a look at a healthy bladder. In this case, you control the time and place
of when you urinate. The kidneys filter urine, and then it travels to the bladder. When your bladder is healthy and filled to near capacity,
it will send a signal to your brain that it's time to go. Notice these muscles in the bladder. In a healthy bladder, they remain
relaxed while the bladder fills. And then once it's at capacity and your brain signals them to do so, they contract to empty the bladder
and cause urination. Now let's take a look at a patient of mine who suffers from overactive bladder.
Just like in the healthy bladder, you'll see that the urine filters from the kidney into the bladder. But this time, the bladder muscle
sends the have-to-go signal to the brain before it's truly full. This results in the patient feeling the urge
to go to the bathroom and incontinence if the muscle contracts too soon. So how can we treat overactive bladder?
My patient has tried all the natural treatments I've suggested, like a change in diet and special exercises.
But none of them seemed to help him out. So now it's time to try medication. Medications for overactive bladder
help to relax the bladder muscles and keep them from contracting when they don't need to. When the muscles relax, the bladder
will fill up in a typical manner, and you won't feel the frequent urge to urinate. Certain injections into the bladder work this way as well.
If medication doesn't work, surgery could be necessary. That's all we have time for today. I hope you've enjoyed taking a look under the skin.
