Female bladder control

Anyone can experience problems controlling their bladder. And because every one of us is different, bladder control problems vary greatly between one person and the next.

However, there are a number of general types or patterns of bladder control problems and it makes it easier to discover the cause of your incontinence if healthcare professionals can decide what type you have. This also helps them to plan treatment and management.

It is quite common for one person to have more than one type of incontinence - this is not something to worry about. There are separate information sheets about different types of incontinence and bladder problems.

How does a normal bladder work?

It is easier to understand what is going wrong to because your incontinence if you know how a bladder operates when it is working properly. Most people have two kidneys although you can be perfectly healthy with one. The kidneys filter your blood as it passes through them and collect waste products, which your body needs to get rid of to stay healthy. As the waste products are collected the kidneys make urine, which then runs down tubes called ureters into your ladder, where it is collected. The bladder is a balloon-shaped organ in the lowest part of your abdomen surrounded by a muscle called the detrusor muscle whose job is to squeeze your bladder to empty it when needed. At the lower end or neck of the bladder a tube called the urethra allows urine to empty out of the bladder. Also at this point there are muscles called sphincter muscles wrapped around the urethra which keep it closed until you are ready to go to the toilet.

Nerves carry messages from the bladder to your brain to tell it when the bladder is beginning to feel full. In response, your brain will let you know that you need to start to consider going to the toilet and at the same time it will tell the sphincter muscles to remain closed until you get there.

When you get to the toilet and are ready to pass water the sphincter muscles relax, the detrusor muscle contracts and the urine empties from the bladder.

A normal bladder:

• empties 4-7 times each day
• holds up to three-quarters of a pint, but usually feels quite full at about half this
• amount
• may wake you up once or twice to pass water
• tells you when it is full but gives you enough time to find a toilet
• empties completely every time you pass water
• does not leak.