When To Seek Medical Care for Overactive Bladder
Approximately 33 million Americans are affected by overactive bladder -- a common bladder control problem in which a frequent and intense urge to urinate may be accompanied by wetting accidents. Contrary to popular belief, men are just as likely as women to develop overactive bladder, although women are more likely to experience wetting accidents.
How to tell if you have overactive bladder. If you answer yes to one or more of the following questions, speak to your doctor about overactive bladder. Your doctor may refer you to a urologist for more detailed testing to determine if you do in fact have overactive bladder.
Overactive bladder questions:
Do you urinate more than eight times in a 24-hour period?
Do you go to the bathroom so frequently that it interferes with the things you want to do?
Do you have to get up two or more times at night to go to the bathroom?
Do you frequently have strong, sudden urges to urinate?
Do you have uncontrollable urges to urinate that sometimes result in wetting yourself?
Do you use pads to protect your clothing from wetting?
When you go out, do you make sure you know the location of available bathrooms?
Do you avoid certain places if you think there won't be an available bathroom?
Bottom Line: If you answered yest to any of these quesitons, you should check with with your doctor. Help is available. You don't need to be a prisioner held hostage in the restroom.
From John Hopkins Health Newsletter, 2-22-11