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Don't Fight the 'Urge' to Learn More About Bladder Health (posted November 5, 2025).png)
By Adam Behnke, Communications Specialist for Brown County Public Health
Every year, Bladder Health Awareness Month is observed in November. The focus is on helping people find resources and take control of their bladder health. In many cases, people don’t talk about those kinds of issues with their doctor (or anyone, really) because of embarrassment—but the truth is that many conditions can be effectively treated through relatively simple lifestyle changes. And while reading this edition of the Healthy Herald won’t immediately cure anyone of their bladder problem, it does provide them with some basic information that can help them on their journey to feeling better. In short, the message today is ‘urine charge’! (Okay, I promise that and the article title are the only puns used in this write-up.) Read on to learn about common bladder conditions, ways you can boost your bladder health, and signs when it’s time to seek professional help.
Common Bladder Conditions
Bladder problems are more common than you think. The Urology Care Foundation says more than 33 million Americans have overactive bladder (OAB), which translates to about 1 in 10 people. One in two women over the age of 65 are impacted by stress incontinence, which is when movement or activity (coughing, laughing, sneezing, etc.) causes urine to leak from the bladder. Nocturia, which is the medical term for needing to wake up more than once during the night to go pee, affects 1 in 3 adults over the age of 30. Another common condition is bladder cancer, which is the sixth most common cancer in the U.S. with nearly 85,000 new cases a year. These statistics represent millions of men and women who struggle with symptoms related to their bladder health—but they shouldn’t have to struggle in secret.
“It’s important to realize bladder conditions are extremely common, and there is no need to feel embarrassed when talking to your healthcare professional - they are there to help you and provide guidance,” says Harris M. Nagler, MD, President of the Urology Care Foundation. “In some cases, simple lifestyle changes can make a big difference in keeping your bladder healthy. Men and women should consult with their doctors to understand the options available to them to help improve their quality of life.”
Urinary incontinence (UI), or bladder control problems, happens to both women and men, often because of changes to their health, problems with their nervous system, or certain lifestyle choices.
Many health issues can lead to UI, including:
- Getting older
- Bladder infections
- Constipation
- Birth defects
- A blocked urinary tract (from a tumor or kidney stone)
- A long-lasting cough
- Diabetes
- Being overweight or obese
Problems with the nervous system are also a common cause of UI. Nerves are like messengers, telling the brain when the bladder is full, and they carry messages from the brain back to the bladder muscles, telling them to either squeeze or relax. Functional incontinence is the term for when these messages don't get through correctly.
(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
The nerves and muscles in the bladder can be damaged or affected by:
- Diabetes
- Giving birth vaginally
- Surgery for prostate cancer
- A stroke
- Parkinson’s disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Alzheimer’s disease
- A brain or spinal cord injury
- Anxiety
- Heavy metal poisoning
Some choices you make in your daily life can increase the chance of having UI:
- Eating habits, such as eating foods that cause constipation
- Drinking habits, like having alcohol, or drinks with caffeine or carbonation
- Taking certain medicines
- Not being physically active
- Smoking
Interstitial Cystitis (IC)/Bladder Pain Syndrome
Interstitial cystitis (IC), also called bladder pain syndrome (BPS), is a long-lasting health problem affecting the bladder. People with IC/BPS feel pain and pressure in the bladder area. They also have lower urinary tract symptoms that have lasted for over six weeks, and doctors can't find an infection or other obvious reason for the discomfort.
Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
Almost everyone will experience a urinary tract infection (UTI) sometime in their life. A UTI occurs when germs, typically bacteria, enter your bladder, urethra, or kidneys. About 60% of women and 10% of men will have at least one UTI during their lifetime.
Neurogenic Bladder
Neurogenic Bladder, also called Neurogenic Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction, is a condition where a person loses control of their bladder because of problems with their brain, spinal cord, or nerves. In these cases, the nerves and muscles that control the holding and releasing of urine don’t communicate well.
Millions of people have neurogenic bladder, including those with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease, and spina bifida. It can also affect people who suffered a stroke or spinal cord injury, had major surgery in the pelvic area, or have diabetes.
Bladder Cancer
Bladder cancer is a common illness that starts in the cells lining the inside of your bladder. Similar are also in your kidneys and the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder. While urothelial cancer can also develop in the kidneys or those connecting tubes, it is much more likely to happen in the bladder.
Overactive Bladder (OAB)
Overactive Bladder (OAB) is a condition where you suddenly feel a strong need to urinate, even if your bladder isn't completely full. Sometimes this happens because your bladder is overly sensitive. Other times, the bladder muscle squeezes to push out urine without you deciding to do so. Normally, your brain signals when your bladder is full, and you can usually wait to find a bathroom. With OAB, you can't wait. You feel an urgent need to go right away, even when your bladder might not actually be full.
Stress Urinary Incontinence
Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) is when you leak urine because of sudden pressure on your bladder and the tube that carries urine out (urethra). This pressure causes the muscle that controls urine flow (sphincter) to briefly open.
If your SUI is mild, you might leak during forceful activities like exercising, sneezing, laughing, or coughing. If it's moderate or severe, you might leak during less forceful actions like standing up, walking, or bending over. These leaks can be just a few drops or enough to soak your clothes.
About one out of every three women deals with SUI at some point. Men also get SUI, but it's less common, often happening after surgery or due to an injury.
Nocturia
Waking up more than once during the night to use the bathroom is called nocturia. Having your sleep interrupted because you need to urinate multiple times a night can really affect your quality of life.
Roughly one out of every three adults over the age of 30 experiences nocturia. The number of people affected increases as they get older. Nocturia can be caused by lifestyle habits or by a more serious underlying medical issue.
Ways to Boost Your Bladder Health
You can’t always prevent bladder control problems, but good habits can keep your bladder as healthy as possible. Consider the following steps:
Pelvic Floor Strength (Kegels)
Kegel exercises, also known as pelvic floor muscle training, are easy exercises you can do to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and improve how well you control your bowels. These muscles support the bladder, rectum, and uterus. They stretch like a hammock from the front to the back of your pelvis and can help you stop yourself from accidentally releasing urine, stool, or gas.
Healthy Eating
Many people find that things like alcohol, spicy foods, chocolate, artificial sweeteners, drinks with caffeine or carbonation, and foods high in acid (like oranges and tomatoes) can bother their bladder and cause inflammation. You might want to stop eating and drinking these things for a while to see if your symptoms get better.
Proper Hydration
You should drink enough fluids so that you need to use the restroom every few hours. Understand what is typical for your body and make sure you do not become dehydrated. If you are drinking enough liquids, your urine should be a pale yellow. Ask your doctor or another healthcare professional how much liquid you should drink based on your body size, how active you are, and where you live. Water is always the best choice. However, if you suffer from conditions like kidney failure or heart failure, you must be careful not to drink excessive amounts of water.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
If you weigh too much or are obese, losing some weight can help with urinary incontinence. Also, maintaining a weight that is good for your health can stop UI from starting. If you are overweight, talk to your doctor about how to lose weight by eating well and getting exercise. If you are obese, your risk of getting UI and other health issues (like diabetes) increases. Controlling obesity and diabetes can make UI less severe, especially for women.
Go When You Feel the Need
When you feel the urge, use the bathroom. People often try to hold their urine because it's not a good time to stop what they’re doing and go. However, constantly holding in your urine can weaken your bladder muscles. You also increase your risk of getting a bladder infection if you hold it in. Bladder infections can lead to problems with controlling your urine.
When to Seek Professional Help
If making changes to your daily habits doesn't fix your issue, your doctor might suggest medication, a special medical tool, an injectable substance to thicken tissue, or an operation to treat your UI.
Medicine
Urgency incontinence may be treated with medicine in the form of a pill, liquid, or patch to relax your bladder.
You may also receive a Botox injection to treat UI when other medicines or self-care treatments don’t work. Injecting Botox into the bladder relaxes it, which makes more room for urine and lowers the chances of urine leaks.
Medical Devices
If your case involves the bladder not emptying completely when you pee, you might need to use a catheter to help. A catheter is a thin, flexible tube used to bring fluids in or out of the body. Your doctor or nurse will teach you the right way to use one. Keeping things clean is very important when using a catheter to prevent a bladder infection.
Women with stress incontinence can use a soft, plastic device called a pessary. It gently pushes against the wall of the vagina and the nearby urethra, providing supportive pressure that helps prevent urine from leaking.
Bulking Agents
A gel or paste can be injected close to your urinary sphincter to help treat stress incontinence. The material that is injected adds bulk to the surrounding tissue, helping seal the opening of your bladder and reduce leakage.
Surgery
The most common surgery for stress incontinence in women is sling surgery. The surgeon places a strip of synthetic mesh or a biologic graft between the urethra and vagina. For men, a male sling involves placing mesh under the urethra to lift and support the urethra and sphincter muscles.
Other possible surgeries include removing a blockage, removing enlarged prostate tissue, or artificially enlarging the bladder so it can store more urine.
Protective Products
Even after treatment, you might still leak urine sometimes. Certain products can help you manage those leaks:
- Absorbent, washable incontinence underwear. This underwear is lined with special fabric to soak up urine.
- Waterproof underwear. This protects your outer clothes from getting wet.
- Adult incontinence briefs. These are disposable briefs, like diapers, that keep your clothes dry.
- Pads. You can wear disposable pads inside your underwear to absorb leaking urine.
- Large disposable pads. You can use these large pads to protect chairs and beds from urine.
- Special skin cleaners and creams. These products can prevent the skin around the opening where urine comes out (the urethra) from getting irritated. Creams can also help block urine from reaching your skin.
- Urine deodorizing tablets. Ask your doctor or health care professional if taking these tablets can make your urine smell less strong.
- External catheters. Used by men, an external catheter collects urine from the body and drains it into a bag strapped to the thigh.
Issues with bladder control happen often, but many people are too ashamed to discuss them. At the very least, you should talk about your bladder problems with a doctor or nurse. Your health care provider can help you find a support group with others facing similar problems.
Consider talking to your family and friends about your urinary incontinence. Your family and friends might make it easier to deal with your situation, and by sharing your struggle, you might learn that other people in your life are living with similar issues.
Stay Healthy, Brown County!
Resources
Warner, Kristina J. MD∗; Schultz, Amy A. PhD†; Barnet, Jodi H. MS‡; Brown, Heidi W. MD, MAS∗,§. Urinary Incontinence and Care Seeking Among Wisconsin Women. Urogynecology 31(2):p 139-146, February 2025. | DOI: 10.1097/SPV.0000000000001599
https://www.urologyhealth.org/media-center/press-releases/november-is-bladder-health-awareness-month-x8396
https://www.urologyhealth.org/media-center/bladder-health-awareness-month
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/bladder-cancer/about/key-statistics.html
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/urologic-diseases/bladder-control-problems/symptoms-causes
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/urologic-diseases/kegel-exercises