How is Overactive Bladder treated?
First, you will need to be evaluated for Overactive Bladder. Your doctor may take your medical history, test your bladder function and ask you to record your bathroom habits and accidents in a voiding diary.
If you receive an OAB diagnosis, your doctor will work with you on a personal treatment plan. There are three “lines” of therapy for Overactive Bladder which are usually offered in the following order:
1. Behavior Treatments
- Changing what you do, such as watching fluid intake
- Pelvic floor exercises or stimulation such as Urostym®
2. OAB Drugs
- Multiple available
- Usually try 2-3 (each for 4-6 weeks)
3. Other Treatments
- Urgent PC®, Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation (PTNS) for the treatment of Overactive Bladder is a recommended therapy for patients who do not respond to behavior treatments or OAB drugs
- Urgent PC may be used earlier if drugs aren’t an appropriate choice
- Other, more invasive third line therapies are also available
1. Stewart, W.F., Rooyen, J.B.V., Cundiff, G.W., Abrams, P., Herzog, A.R., Corey, R., et al. (2003). Prevalence and burden of overactive bladder in the United States. World J Urol, 20, 327-336.