Bladder > Healthy Bladder

Healthy Bladder

There are a number of things that you can do to try and maintain a healthy bladder. These include:

• Keeping a healthy fluid intake
  
• Avoiding constipation and following a healthy diet
  
• Practising pelvic floor exercises

Healthy fluid intake

It is important to drink enough fluid each day. Drinking enough is essential to keep the bladder healthy. The bladder will work at its best when you drink the right amount of fluid. When you are not drinking enough, the bladder gets used to holding smaller amounts of urine and can become sensitive - especially if your urine becomes more concentrated as then it is more likely to irritate your bladder. However, if you drink too much you will need to go to the toilet more often.

Try to drink at least 1.5 - 2 litres(6-8 glasses) of fluid each day - remembering that many foods already contain plenty of water in them. If you currently drink less than this, try and increase the amount you drink gradually. Drink fairly small quantities at any one time, regularly throughout the day.

Increasing the amount that you drink may sound counter-intuitive. Indeed, in the short term it may well seem to make your problems worse, but this will only be temporary. In the longer term your bladder will learn to hold more urine, will become less sensitive and irritable, and will be less likely to harbour infections.

Some people find that drinks that contain caffeine or fizzy drinks, especially those "Lite" or "Diet" types with artificial sweeteners like Aspartame or Saccharine, can make their problems worse. Cutting this sort of drink out may help you. Alcoholic drinks - especially "shorts" - can irritate the bladder too. Drink plain water, fruit juice, fruit or herbal teas and cordials. If you pay attention to what you drink, you will start to notice which drinks cause problems.

Drinking 1 or 2 glasses (250 to 600ml) of cranberry juice every day can help people who often get urine infections. Cranberry juice helps to flush the infection out of your system because it has a bacteriostatic effect. This prevents bacteria sticking to the lining of your urinary tract and breeding there. However, be careful when shopping for cranberry products: many are very dilute and so you would have to drink a lot to get the benefit. Look out for pure cranberry juices with a cranberry content of 20 to 25%. People with diabetes should check with their doctor or continence advisor before drinking cranberry juice.

Keeping your urine on the slightly acid side is another good way of discouraging infections, because generally, bugs prefer alkaline environments: you may have noticed when you get a urine infection that your urine smells of ammonia - which is a strong alkali. Taking Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), in divided doses (totalling not more than 1000mg per day), works well. Drinking Barley Water or Cola will also tend to keep your urine acid. It may also help to keep your catheter free of encrustation if you wear a permanent indwelling one.

Anyone with diabetes or taking Warfarin medication should check with their doctor first. The acid in some fruit juices can make problems worse for some people - check with your GP or continence advisor first if you are unsure.

Do not cut down on the amount that you drink: this makes your urine even more concentrated and is likely to make your bladder problems even worse.

Avoiding constipation and following a healthy diet

You should try and avoid constipation. When the bowel does not empty properly it will swell up and push down onto the bladder.

You can help avoid constipation by following a healthy diet. Eating healthily, can help some bladder problems. Following a good diet will not only benefit your bladder but also your health in general. Try and eat a balanced diet that is not too high in fat and includes plenty of fibre. Aim for at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Choose wholegrain varieties of bread, pasta and rice, rather than white versions.

Being overweight can also make your bladder problems worse. Extra weight may put pressure on the pelvic floor muscles which can become weak and may result in stress urinary incontinence.

For further information and advice on food and diet, please visit the NHS Choices website.

How the Bladder Works

The urinary system consists of two kidneys, the ureters, the bladder and the urethra. The kidneys lie in the back, in front of the lower rib cage on either side of the spinal cord. Urine which is made by the kidneys is transported to the bladder by the two ureters where it is stored until you go to the toilet.

Each ureter is a thin and concave tube which connects the bladder to the kidney. The bladder is a hollow muscular organ; its purpose is to store and then empty itself of urine in a controlled fashion and it is connected to the tip of the penis in men and the skin just at the top of the vaginal opening in women by another thin muscular tube called the urethra.

In males, the prostate gland surrounds and lies in the wall of the urethra, just below its connection with the bladder.

For some time now, purists have stopped likening the pelvic floor muscles to a hammock because MRI has shown that in the norm it is a dome shape.

How a normal bladder works

The bladder has two main functions, to store urine and then get rid of it. The bladder is made of smooth muscle which is controlled by the automatic nervous system.

The kidneys filter your blood and collect waste products, which your body needs too eliminate. As the waste products are collected the kidneys make urine which then runs down the tubes called ureters into your bladder, where it is collected.

The bladder is positioned in the lowest part of your abdomen surrounded by a muscle called the detrusor muscle whose job it is to squeeze your bladder to empty it when needed. At the lower end of the neck of the bladder a tube called the urethra allows urine to empty out of the bladder. Also at this point, there are muscles called sphincter muscles wrapped around the urethra which keep it closed until you are ready to go to the toilet.
Nerves carry messages from the bladder to your brain to tell it when the bladder is beginning to feel full. In response, your brain will let you know that you need to start to consider going to the toilet and at the same time it will tell the muscles to remain closed until you get there

A normal bladder empties 4 - 7 times each day depending on how much you drink and holds up to three-quarters of a pint. It usually starts to tell you that you will need to go to the toilet soon when half this amount is in your bladder. For example, you may wake up once or twice to pass water and your bladder will tell you when it is full but gives you enough time to find a toilet. A normal bladder empties completely every time you pass water and does not leak.