What is a hyperactive bladder?
The bladder usually uses a sense of pressure to politely ask you to empty it as soon as possible. Once you’ve done that, it takes about two hours to fill up and send you back to the bathroom. If, however, the bladder begins to demand to be emptied every half hour or even longer, we are talking about a hyperactive bladder.
There are many causes for an overactive bladder. The bladder muscle that contracts when the bladder is full may be too strong and contract too soon. Sensors that measure pressure on the bladder may also be overly sensitive.
The neural pathways that carry the pressure signal from the bladder along the spinal cord to the brain could also be damaged. Damage to the spine or conditions such as Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis can also change the functioning of the nerves, causing the bladder muscle to contract more often.
If you have often had urinary tract infections (UTIs), your bladder wall may have been attacked by bacteria too many times, which means that the stretch sensors are no longer working properly.
It seems that women are more vulnerable to bladder problems than men. The capacity of the bladder varies from person to person, but as a rule, women can store from 350 to 550 ml, while men can hold from 550 to 750 ml. Therefore, it is not uncommon for women to have to empty their bladder more often than men. On the other hand, the female urethra is seven times shorter than the male. And because men’s urethral opening and anus are further apart, men struggle with fewer bacteria in the bladder and therefore have bladder infections much less often.
From a statistical perspective, only one in a hundred men will have an ITU in their lifetime. During menopause, estrogen deficiency can also weaken the pelvic floor and connective tissues and cause prolapse of the bladder or uterus. More generally, changes in hormone balance can also encourage an irritable bladder. If estrogen levels sink, the bladder could react more strongly to certain substances in our urine, and less blood is supplied to the mucous membranes, making us more susceptible to inflammation.
However, not all bladder emptying disorders have an organic cause: overactive bladder is the most common gynecological condition that cannot be completely attributed to physical causes.