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WOMEN'S HEALTH
NOVEMBER IS NATIONAL BL
Want to have a healthy bladder? Start now.
Heather Shannon, MS, CNM, WHNP, MPH
H
ow often do you think about going to the bathroom? Do you plan events around where the nearest bathroom is? Do you shy away from taking a long road trip or jumping on a trampoline? Have you stopped taking your favorite fitness class or stopped your morning run? Be honest. For many of us, when we were younger, urinating was no big deal. Right? In fact, teenagers will only urinate approximately three to four times per day. But as we get older, it is harder to ignore bladder signals or urges to go to the bathroom. If we do not act on it relatively soon, we find we end up having problems, such as incontinence (leaking urine). Many of us will experience unwanted incontinence with laughing, sneezing, exercising or losing urine at first sign of having to “go.” We might even develop a constant urge to urinate, which is a sign of an overactive bladder. Because of these unwanted problems, women spend a lot of time thinking about ways to protect clothing and prevent leakage of urine that they will stop them from going to events or participating in activities. Thankfully, there are ways to treat many of the urinary problems women encounter, but of course, prevention is the best. In order get back to better bladder habits, it is important to understand how your bladder works and why it is important to listen to the signals. First, let us learn about our anatomy. Where is your bladder? Your bladder is in your pelvis, is located in front of your uterus, and is a hollow, muscular, balloon-shaped organ expands as it fills with urine. It receives urine from the kidneys through two tubes called the ureters. A normal bladder acts like a reservoir and can hold 1.5 to 2 cups (10-16 ounces) of urine for two to five hours. On average, women urinate every three to four hours and no more than twice at night. Of course, how often you urinate depends on what and how much you drink throughout the day and can be affected by certain medications. Lastly, the urethra is a single tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside and is located above a woman’s vaginal opening, below the clitoris. The bladder will send you a signal as a sensation that you have to urinate called urge. Luckily, you can control the urge until you are able to get to a bathroom.
November 2020
Philanthropy Edition
