When you’re on the move and enjoying time with friends or family, a sudden urge to urinate can be frustrating. Especially when it’s urgent, and you feel you can’t get far from a bathroom. If you consistently experience frequent and urgent urges to urinate, you may be living with fibroids. This symptom can make enjoying every moment a struggle and lead to you scheduling your life around the availability of bathrooms. Eventually, it may seem like it’s easier to stay home than to head out and risk an accident. If these symptoms are the result of fibroids, there may be an answer available.
Frequent Urination and Incontinence With Fibroids
For many women, the above situations are far more than hypothetical. They describe a constant state of frustration in their day-to-day lives. The frequent need to urinate is often accompanied by reduced energy, severe cramps, heavy bleeding, and a swollen abdomen. If you’re living with this condition and have fibroids, it’s time to reach out to your physician. While fibroids may be the underlying cause, you want to rule out other health concerns as well.
Urinary incontinence isn’t unusual with severe cases of fibroid. Losing control of your bladder is a concern that mostly affects women, especially those of advanced age. For some, the symptoms are no worse than an occasional leakage, while others may experience moments of significant distress. Losing control of your bladder can be humiliating, but an answer may be available if fibroids are the underlying cause.
Fibroids cause incontinence and a frequent urge to urinate by putting pressure on the bladder. Fibroids are generally small and inconsequently, but they can grow to be of significant size. When this happens, it’s possible for them to put pressure on the bladder, which results in the need to urinate. The most common culprit is a form of fibroid known as subserosal fibroids. These develop on the outside of the uterus and grow towards the pelvic bone, applying pressure on the surrounding organs.
In addition to causing frequent urination, it’s also possible for fibroids to cause urinary retention. This occurs when the ureter, the passage from the bladder to the outside, becomes blocked. When this happens, urine cannot flow properly, making it difficult to empty the bladder completely. This is why it’s essential to report your concerns to your fibroid specialist if you experience issues emptying your bladder. Thankfully, there are treatments available to ease these symptoms.
Treating Fibroids With Help From Your Specialist
Your fibroid specialist can suggest some treatment options to help alleviate your symptoms. There are three common options to accomplish this goal:
- Hysterectomy – Complete removal of the uterus
- Myomectomy – The surgical removal of the fibroids themselves
- Uterine fibroid embolization – A treatment that blocks blood from reaching the fibroids, causing them to shrink.
If you’re struggling with symptoms related to fibroids, give them a call. They’ll arrange a consultation to discuss your fibroid concerns and suggest treatment options for you. Together you’ll develop a treatment plan that will make frequent urges to urinate a thing of the past.
