Overactive bladder musculature
People with MS often report bladder complaints, especially in advanced stages of the disease. A frequent form of bladder disorder is compulsive incontinence. This affects the individual with an irresistible, indeed imperative, desire to urinate.
The frequency of the urge to urinate is due to the smallness of the areas actually affected and the essential cause: an overactive musculature in the body’s bladder-emptying mechanism. Even though this may seem to promote the condition, it is essential to drink adequate amounts of liquid: i.e. at least 1.5 litres of liquid a day. It is best to do so in small quantities, since a slowly filled bladder can accommodate more fluid. A ‘bladder drill’ of this kind, involving regular empting of the bladder, approximately every three hours, can prove helpful.
Spasticity and bladder disturbances
Spasticity of the legs is often combined with inefficient bladder emptying. A disordered interplay of the muscles responsible for bladder opening and closure blocks the emptying of the bladder as if a veritable resistance were in place. The bladder does not empty completely and residual urine is retained. In such cases the patient is advised to try to train the bladder by rhythmic tapping of the stomach skin over the pubic bone when the bladder is reluctant to start emptying. This procedure can prove helpful.
Incomplete bladder emptying
With incomplete bladder emptying, depending on the circumstances, residual urine remaining in the bladder can lead to infections of the urinary tract. Accordingly, in all bladder disorders it is important to ensure an adequate supply of liquids to the body in order to avoid urinary tract inflammations with all the attendant complications. Other preventive measures include bladder training and avoiding large residual quantities of urine.
