Library · Disease
Overactive bladder
Make it clearer
Overactive bladder is the name commonly used for urge incontinence: a strong urge to urinate comes on and urine leaks out before you reach the bathroom. It is worth being precise, because the two terms get used as synonyms and they are not quite the same: most cases of overactive bladder involve no leaking of urine.
What fails is the coordination. Certain nerves and muscles of the bladder stop working together to hold urine, and the urine comes out at the wrong moment.
The muscle in question is called the detrusor, and it is the smooth muscle that forms the wall of the bladder. Smooth muscle means it is not under voluntary control. Its job has two phases: relaxing while the bladder fills, so more will fit, and contracting when it is time to empty. Here that order breaks down: it is a tank that squeezes while it is still filling.
In brief
Overactive bladder is the common name for urge incontinence, with urine leaking before you reach the bathroom, although most cases of overactive bladder have no incontinence.
In urge incontinence, the nerves and muscles of the bladder do not work together to hold urine, which is released at the wrong time.
The detrusor, the smooth muscle that forms the bladder wall and must relax to store urine, contracts involuntarily as the bladder fills.
A tank that squeezes while it is still filling.
Sources (3)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of HealthDefinition & Facts of Bladder Control Problems (Urinary Incontinence), NIDDKPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingUrge Incontinence, StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Abdomen and Pelvis: Bladder Detrusor Muscle, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated