Frequent urination can be a symptom of many different conditions. It is described as the need to urinate more often than you usually do. This may involve passing more urine than normal or urinating only very small amounts each time. This can happen during the day, night, or both, and it can eventually begin to affect your sleep, ability to work, and your overall sense of well-being.
Treating frequent urination will depend on what condition is causing it. Sometimes frequent urination is a result of habit and could be completely normal for you. However, frequent urination, along with other symptoms, is usually a signal of an underlying health condition. Once you are properly diagnosed, your doctor will work with you to develop a treatment plan that will address your specific situation.
Antibiotics
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common cause of frequent urination. If your frequent urination is the result of an infection such as this, then antibiotics will be prescribed to treat the infection. Once the infection is cleared, the urge to urinate frequently will also subside, usually within a few days.
Condition Management
If your frequent urination is being caused by a disease or condition, then your doctor will focus on treating this condition to relieve your symptoms. For example, if diabetes is the cause, then your treatment will involve keeping your blood sugar levels under control.
Lifestyle Changes
There are also some techniques that can help you manage your symptoms if medications or other therapies are not working. If you have a condition such as overactive bladder, then you will need to use behavioral therapies to train your bladder to not need to urinate as often. Lifestyle therapies can include:
- Bladder retraining: This is a technique that involves gradually increasing the intervals between bathroom breaks over the course of twelve weeks. This works by slowly teaching your bladder to hold urine longer and urinate less frequently.
- Diet modification: It can be helpful to avoid any food or drink that seems to irritate your bladder or act as a diuretic. This includes caffeine, alcohol, carbonated drinks, tomato-based products, chocolate, artificial sweeteners, and spicy foods. It can also help to eat high-fiber foods whenever possible, as this will prevent constipation, which can worsen the symptoms of frequent urination.
- Monitoring fluid intake: It is important to drink enough fluids to prevent constipation and urine over-concentration, but you shouldn’t drink too many fluids, as this will also worsen your symptoms. You should also try to avoid drinking anything right before bed, as this could lead to urinating during the night and keep you from getting a good night’s sleep.
- Kegel exercises: This is an exercise that helps strengthen your bladder muscles as well as those around the urethra that will help you to have better control over your bladder and your need to urinate. Exercising these pelvic muscles for at least five minutes three times per day can make a significant improvement in your bladder controlling abilities.
