Treatment Options for Overactive Bladder
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If you are suffering from overactive bladder (OAB), know there are several treatment options. You may need to try a range of treatments until you find something that works for you. If behavioral techniques and medications haven’t worked for you, talk to your doctor to find out if sacral neuromodulation may help control your OAB symptoms.
Behavioral techniques
Some people can reduce their symptoms of overactive bladder with lifestyle changes, fluid and diet modification, bladder retraining, Kegel exercises or other kinds of physical therapy.
Medications
Your doctor may prescribe medications to help control the symptoms of overactive bladder. Some of these medications focus on the muscles associated with bladder function.
Botulinum toxin injection
Injecting botulinum toxin into the bladder wall may relieve your sense of urgency by preventing the nerves that control the bladder from communicating to the bladder muscles. The effect is temporary and may require repeated procedures.
Surgery
Depending on the nature of your bladder control problems, your surgical options could range from simple, outpatient procedures to invasive surgery requiring hospitalization.
Leng, W. W. & Chancellor, M. B. How sacral nerve stimulation neuromodulation works. Urol. Clin. North Am. 32, 11–8 (2005).