Causes, Symptoms, and Effective Management Strategies
Understanding Urinary Urgency in Women: What is it and What Causes it?
Urinary urgency refers to the sudden and intense need to urinate, often leading to discomfort, inconvenience and even embarrassment. Having a better understanding of the symptoms can help women seek appropriate care and help.
Some examples of causes of Urinary Urgency are the following:
Hypertonic or tight pelvic floor muscles
Fascial restrictions along the lower abdominal wall from surgeries
Behavioral Habits with toileting
Poor Nervous system recovery or unmanaged stress/anxiety
Infections: such as Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
Overactive bladder (OAB) can lead to sudden urges to urinate frequently.
Bladder irritants such as caffeine, alcohol, and spicy foods
Certain medications or medical conditions like diabetes
Neurological Disease such as Parkinsons
Common Symptoms of Urinary Urgency in Women
Urinary urgency, especially in women, can be a distressing and embarrassing condition that significantly impacts every aspect of your day! Work, errands, exercise, and travel are all affected!
Here’s how to better gauge if you may be experiencing urinary urgency based on typical symptoms.
● Urge incontinence: Sudden and intense need to urinate, possibly followed by involuntary
loss of urine.
● Frequent urination: More than 7-8 voids/episodes throughout the day (and night possibly) that appear to be disproportionate to the amount of liquid you are consuming
● Sudden urge to urinate: Difficulty controlling the urge, leading to leaks or
accidents if not promptly addressed.
● Pain or discomfort in the lower abdomen (bladder): Symptoms may vary from person to person. Some may have mild, while others may have more severe pain or discomfort in the lower abdomen without emptying the bladder
If you are concerned that you may be dealing with urinary urgency, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy can help diagnose as well as treat your symptoms.
Tips and Treatments for Relief
When it comes to managing urinary urgency, various strategies can help individuals find
relief. Treatment for urge incontinence can involve a combination of lifestyle and behavioral changes, therapeutic exercises/movement strategies, manual therapy, strengthening, and considerations for collaborative medical care
● Lifestyle modifications: Dietary changes through thoughtful collaboration (i.e. reducing irritants such as caffeine and alcohol ) addressing exercise programming and recovery patterns, hydration behaviors, and bladder training techniques.
● Pelvic floor awareness: improving awareness (neuromuscular coordination ) of the pelvic floor muscles as well as those muscles that collaboratively support the health of the pelvic floor and bladder, addressing muscular compensation or imbalance
● Referral for Care: Consultation with other healthcare providers for personalized
treatment options based on individual needs. I.e Identifying a need for prescriptive intervention to assess a need for intrinsic contributions to genitourinary symptoms/urinary urgency.
Seeking Professional Help: When to Consult a Healthcare Provider for Urinary
Urgency Concerns
If you are experiencing what you suspect may be urinary urgency, you can self-refer to Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy in the State of VA without a prescription. Your PFPT is equipped to assess, diagnose, and treat, as well as refer out if necessary to other collaborative providers such as a Urologist or Sexual Medicine Specialist MD. Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists can provide targeted treatments to help manage urinary urgency concerns effectively, improving your overall quality of life!
Don't let urinary urgency hold you back any longer. Book an appointment with Dr. Rachel Aronson, PT, DPT at Core Elements Physical Therapy and we can collaboratively begin helping you return to doing what you love!
Comments