Whether it’s a frequent urge to urinate or a burning pain – various symptoms can accompany bladder weakness. Not being able to hold the urine is usually the greatest burden for those affected and can severely limit their everyday life. But how does urinary incontinence come about in the first place? We name 3 causes of bladder weakness.
Almost every second woman is affected by urinary incontinence at least once in her life – but only very few of those affected talk about it out of shame. The involuntary loss of urine is colloquially referred to as bladder weakness. Despite this name, in many cases the bladder is not to blame for the symptoms.
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What is bladder weakness?
Women with bladder weakness can no longer control when and where they urinate. Furthermore, symptoms such as frequent urination and urination, burning when urinating or even an increased occurrence of bladder infections can occurand urinary tract infections. In general, doctors differentiate between three types of bladder weakness – stress incontinence, urge incontinence and so-called mixed incontinence, i.e. a mixture of both forms. Stress incontinence is caused by physical stress, while urge incontinence is a sudden and unexpected urge to urinate, which makes the affected person unable to hold the urine. In order to get to the bottom of the cause of urinary incontinence, it is important to first identify the type of bladder weakness.
Bladder weakness: 3 causes
1. Pelvic floor weakness
Stress incontinence, in which the closure between the bladder neck and the urethra no longer works properly, is often caused by a weakness in the pelvic floor. Various factors such as lack of exercise, obesity or heavy physical exertion over a long period of time can lead to a descent of the pelvic floor and thus also to a descent of the pelvic organs such as the uterus or bladder. Injuries to the pelvic floor can also trigger stress incontinence.
Also interesting: Exercise the pelvic floor in everyday life >>
2. Pregnancy
In fact, bladder weakness is one of the first signs of pregnancy. Because when the uterus gets bigger, it puts pressure on the bladder – so pregnant women have to go to the toilet more often. Between the fourth and seventh month, the uterus expands from the pelvis into the abdomen, giving the bladder more space. From the seventh month, the bladder weakness then usually occurs again. Due to the pressure on the bladder, it can only hold a little urine and laughing or coughing can lead to unintentional voiding of urine.
3. Menopause
In addition, a large proportion of women experience bladder weakness during the menopause. This is caused by various factors: On the one hand, the connective tissue plays a crucial role in the bladder muscles. If the elasticity of the connective tissue decreases during the menopause, unintentional urination is encouraged. On the other hand, both the urethra and the urinary bladder react to the lack of estrogen. Since the female sex hormone is also responsible for the elasticity of the connective tissue in the pelvic floor, a deficiency can cause the bladder to sink. If more pressure is exerted on the sphincter as a result, over-stretching occurs in the long term and this leads to bladder weakness.
