Overactive Bladder

Helping to keep your bowels moving to avoid constipation can also help reduce symptoms related to OAB. Try incorporating the digestion-friendly foods above to keep your bowels regular.

If you’re overweight or obese, your doctor will likely recommend that you lose weight. Being at a healthy weight can help reduce your symptoms related to OAB.

Smoking irritates the bladder and can make OAB symptoms worse. Work with your doctor for tips and programs on quitting smoking for good.

Setting a schedule to urinate – while building up to more time between toilet trips – can help your body better regulate your urge to urinate. You’ll start with delaying going to the toilet by 30 minutes, and eventually work up to three or four hours between toilet trips.

Your doctor may use nerve stimulation to help you measure and receive information about your body. Also called biofeedback, this treatment can help you better control the flow of urine and your urgency to urinate.

If you have severe urge urinary incontinence, your doctor may recommend trying Botox injections. This treatment can be effective but needs to be repeated over time, with effects lasting six months or more.

If other lifestyle modification treatments aren’t enough to manage your OAB, your doctor may recommend medication.

If you are a woman going through menopause and experiencing OAB, your doctor may recommend vaginal estrogen therapy. This involves applying a cream, tablet or ring directly to the vaginal area.

Other people with OAB may benefit from medications that help relax the bladder and relieve the feeling of needing to urinate so often.