Overreactive bladder or the OAB is a problem with bladder function that causes a sudden need to urinate. Overactive bladder is common among women but may occur in men also. If you’re encountering symptoms of overactive bladder, like an urge to pee eight or more times a day, the necessity to wake up to pee twice or more per night, or urinary leaks, consult a urologist. It can be linked with a lot of underlying diseases. But if it is because of an overreactive bladder, these natural cures for overactive bladder will improve the condition.
Cut down on bladder-irritant foods
Researches show that spicy foods can be an irritant to the bladder lining. Curry, oranges, spicy chili, chili peppers, or horseradish, and juice are bladder irritants. Furthermore, highly acidic foods can also trigger your bladder. It may not be practical to give up all foods that possibly irritate your bladder, however, you can take note which foods are worst for you, and you can avoid those particularly before bed.
Reduce caffeine and alcohol
Another of the many natural cures for overactive bladder is reducing caffeine and alcohol consumption. These are diuretics (they make you pee) and they stimulate bladder function. In some women, reducing or eliminating caffeine has helped in decreasing and resolving problems of urinary incontinence. Likewise, alcoholic beverages appear to be bladder stimulants and diuretics in most people. So, if you have a difficulty with urinary continence, drinking even small amounts of alcohol can cause the worst effect. Try to drink coffee in the morning if it is hard for you to skip your daily cup of coffee. And if you crave for a glass of wine limit it to one and keep it away from bedtime.
Stay hydrated
Drinking water might be the last thing you want to do when you always have the urge to pee. The issue with this is that dehydration dilutes your urine and makes it more concentrated which in fact irritates your bladder more. But, drinking water before bed will increase your likelihood of waking up to pee. Therefore, it is recommended to drink eight glasses during the day and cut off fluids four hours before bedtime.
Do Kegel exercises
Doing Kegel exercises that are repeatedly squeezing and relaxing the muscles you use to hold in pee have a lot of advantages. It helps in diminishing urinary incontinence and urinary urgency. These are often recommended by physicians as one of the primary natural cures for overactive bladder.
Try physical therapy
Regular sittings with a pelvic floor therapist can help to retrain your bladder muscles and nerves through Kegels and other exercises like bladder retraining. Even though this modern physiotherapy is very much time consuming, it helps the patients to regain control of their bladder. These bladder drills work to retrain the brain to retain the capability of the bladder muscle contractions. Sometimes pelvic floor dysfunction and bladder issues are because of the poor bowel habits of the patients, so working on bowel mechanics helps to improve bladder symptoms. As the problems are varied for each person, the exercises will be too, therefore a physical therapist recommends the right ones for you.
Reduce stress
Reducing stress by practicing meditation or yoga is considered as one of the most effective natural cures for overactive bladder. Anxiety can lead to hypersensitive bladder nerves as the nerves in your brain connect with the nerves in your bladder. A study in 2016 in urology observed that overactive bladder patients had more anxiety disorders. Mental stress can trigger autonomic nervous system activity. This results in the increased bowel activity which leads to irritable bowel syndrome and bladder activity lead to overactive bladder. Stress reduction can range from consulting a therapist to relaxing by doing things you enjoy.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a Chinese healing technique in which tiny needles are placed in your skin near pressure points. It helps with all varieties of physical ailments and studies suggest this is one of the natural cures for an overreactive bladder. Studies show that 79 percent of overactive bladder patients witnessed notable improvement after 10 weeks of weekly 30-minute sessions. Unlike any other medications, acupuncture tends to cause very rare side effects.
Visceral manipulation
Visceral manipulation is a new technique where an osteopath uses his hands to move around the nerves in your pelvis and abdomen. This is a manual therapy technique that works directly with organs and their surrounding connective tissues to restore normal motility, structure, and function. Removing stuck stress from the connective tissues restores the sensitivity of the core and neurofascial system and kicks in repair and healing processes, by hydrating and unsticking dry connective tissue. Visceral manipulation can help to relieve overactive bladder by altering the way your bladder nerves communicate with the rest of your body.
Living with an overreactive bladder is absolutely terrible and exhausting with all the lost sleep time. If you could fix whatever is wrong by making the changes needed for a healthier bladder, your whole body and mind will also become healthier in the process. You can opt for any of the above mentioned natural cures for overactive bladder, however, consulting medical expert is recommended before proceeding with anything.
