How the bladder works

The urinary system

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 pf 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.