Can you weaken your bladder

The muscles you use to do that are your pelvic floor muscles. Once you find your pelvic floor muscles, you can complete regular Kegel exercises to strengthen them. Simply contract your pelvic floor muscles, hold them for five to ten seconds, and relax them. The Urology Care Foundation suggests that you complete at least two sessions of Kegel exercises per day. Up to 30 contractions per session. In some cases, your doctor may recommend bladder retraining. This can help reduce the number of times you need to go to the bathroom.

To retrain your bladder, your doctor will advise you to follow a regular bathroom schedule. Try holding off for 10 minutes after the initial urge to go. Your doctor may encourage you to gradually increase the length of time between each bathroom visit. Try to avoid emptying your bladder between visits.

Sometimes, you can treat mild cases of incontinence with lifestyle changes alone. In other cases, you may need medication, surgery, or other treatments.

For example, prescription medications can help reduce muscle spasms and nerve problems that may be affecting your bladder. They can help diagnose the cause of your symptoms and discuss treatment options. If you frequently pee when you sneeze, laugh, or cough, you may have stress incontinence. Stress incontinence is the inability to control your urge to urinate. Read more on how to treat this serious and embarrassing disorder.

Urinary incontinence happens when you lose control of your bladder. Discover potential causes, treatments, prevention tips, and more. Overflow incontinence occurs when your bladder doesn't completely empty when you urinate.

Learn why this happens and how it's managed. If you live with urinary incontinence, you're not alone. A lack of muscle support around the bladder can cause sagging, which can lead to leakage. This can lead to stress incontinence, which often results from a mix of OAB and urge incontinence. If a person is experiencing frequent urination or having urine leakage after a sudden urge to urinate, it may be time to talk with a doctor about treatment options to help with OAB.

However, there are also several lifestyle changes that a person can make to help to calm the bladder muscle, which may help improve OAB symptoms. Read on to learn more. The sections below provide suggestions for ways to help manage a weak bladder, which may also improve OAB symptoms. The pelvic floor muscles are responsible for supporting the bladder, and they help control the flow of urine through the urethra.

When they become weakened or damaged, it can cause stress incontinence. Performing pelvic floor exercises — including Kegels, squats, and the bridge — can help strengthen the muscles around and within the bladder to prevent urinary incontinence. According to the results of two clinical trials , women who participate in pelvic floor muscle training are twice as likely to see an improvement in their urinary incontinence than those receiving symptomatic care alone.

They are also five times more likely to have their symptoms completely resolve. Those who have had recent surgery, have given birth recently, or have other health concerns should talk with a doctor before beginning any exercise regimen.

Symptoms of OAB are more common in people who currently smoke or who have smoked than in people who do not smoke or who have never smoked. Smoking can reduce vascular health, which may lead to a loss of oxygen to the bladder muscles. Some research suggests that quitting smoking can help reduce some of the symptoms of OAB, including the urgency associated with it. This is particularly the case for people aged 20—49 years who used to smoke. Some doctors have also proposed that chronic coughing associated with smoking can weaken the pelvic floor muscles that control the flow of urine, which can cause stress incontinence.

Lifting heavy objects puts strain not only on the back and knees but also on the pelvic floor muscles. Without proper support from pelvic muscles, stress incontinence and OAB with or without urge incontinence can occur.

For this reason, people should avoid lifting heavy objects if they can. If they do need to lift something, they should practice their pelvic floor exercises before and during the lift to help support the muscles in and around their bladder. Urine contains the liquid waste products from the food that people eat. Some foods can cause irritation and muscle spasms in the bladder, leading to an urgent need to urinate. There is no single diet that is best for everybody with OAB, as everyone reacts differently to different foods.

In general, the National Association for Continence recommends avoiding acidic or citrusy foods, which can be especially irritating to the bladder.

Dairy and gluten may also be problematic for people with intolerances. However, it is important to eat a balanced diet that features a variety of foods. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Lucacz ES. Evaluation of urinary incontinence in females. Accessed Jan. South-Paul JE, et al. Urinary incontinence. McGraw Hill; Female urinary incontinence and voiding dysfunction adult. Mayo Clinic. Male urinary incontinence.

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Liu B, et al. Electroacupuncture versus pelvic floor muscle training plus solifenacin for women with mixed urinary incontinence: A randomized noninferiority trial.

Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Wieland LS, et al. Yoga for treating urinary incontinence in women.