If you are experiencing sudden urges to urinate or frequent trips to the bathroom, you are not alone. Urinary urgency and frequency are common symptoms that impact daily life. However, a lot of people don’t even realize they have urinary dysfunction. Understanding urinary urgency vs urinary frequency will help identify the underlying causes which will lead to a more effective treatment.
What Does Urinary Urgency Feel Like?
Urinary urgency is the sudden, compelling need to urinate that is difficult to deter. The intense urge often comes with discomfort or leakage, if you can’t make it to the bathroom in time. Triggers can include running water, moving from sitting to standing or putting your key into your door. Each of triggers are linked to different mechanisms. Pelvic floor physical therapy can help determine which mechanism is impacting your urinary urgency.
What Urinary Frequency Really Mean?
Urinary frequency refers needing to urinate more then usual. Most people urinate six to eight times a day, feeling the urge about every 3 hours. Voiding more than eight times a day or less then every two hours is an indication that you have urinary frequency. This can happen even when your bladder is not completely full, often because the bladder muscles or nerves are overly sesnsative. Tracking how often you go can help identify patterns and guide treatment for better bladder control.
Urinary Urgency and Urinary Frequency is Often Related
Urinary urgency and frequency often overlap but don’t always occur together. You can experience urinary frequency, needing to urinate often, without a strong urge or intense need to void. Conversely, urinary urgency is the sudden, intense need to void right now. sensation You can have urinary frequency without the urge. In both symptoms, the causes can overlap such as urethra weakness, bladder sensitivity due to hormonal changes or heighten nerve reflexes. Understanding the underlying reason allows for a more effective treatment through pelvic floor physical therapy.
Common Causes of Urinary Urgency and Urinary Frequency + Tips
- Urethra muscle weakness: when the urethra muscle is weak, urine is able move downward and “funnel” into the urethra. This can cause a sensation of urge and more frequent trips to the bathroom.
- Can you stop the flow of urine mid-stream? If you have difficulty stopping the flow of urine, there could be a bladder neck issue.
- Reflex arc: Your brain may connect an action, sound or location to having to go to the bathroom. For instance, if you go to the bathroom every time you walk into your home, you brain will connect that when your key is in the door you need to urinate. Every time your key is in a door it will create a urgent sensation to void and increase trips to the bathroom.
- If the sensation of needing to urinate is triggered by a certain action or place try urge suppression techniques like pelvic floor muscle contraction or distracting yourself with a different task.
- Urethra instability: Deep pelvic floor muscle tightness can irritate the nerve to the urethra causing incomplete closure.
- If you have increase symptoms after a workout or notice you clench your glutes, try rolling your glutes with a Yoga Tune up ball or Franklin ball.
When to Schedule a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Appointment
- Void more then 8 times a day
- Void sooner than every 2 hours
Ready to stop planning your day around going to the bathroom? If you’re in San Jose or South Bay Area, our pelvic floor specialists can help identify the root cause of your urgency or frequency and create an treatment specific to you.
Schedule your evaluation with Optimize Pelvic Health to take the first step in regaining bladder control.
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