Bladder Health as You Age: What Changes and When to Seek Help

Maybe you’ve started planning errands around bathroom stops. You get up several times during the night. You’ve stopped taking long walks because you worry you won’t make it to the bathroom in time. Or perhaps a laugh, cough or sneeze sometimes leads to bladder leakage.

Changes like these can become more common as we get older, but that doesn’t mean you simply have to live with them.

Understanding bladder health as you age can help you recognize changes, build healthier habits and know when it may be time to talk with your healthcare provider.

Is Bladder Leakage a Normal Part of Aging?

Urinary incontinence, or the loss of bladder control, becomes more common with age. But bladder leakage is not an inevitable or normal part of getting older.

Changes in muscles, medications, health conditions, mobility and other factors can all affect bladder control.

Some people experience an overactive bladder, which can cause a sudden, difficult-to-control urge to urinate. Others may experience leakage when coughing, laughing, exercising or lifting something.

You may also notice:

• Needing to urinate more often
• Sudden or strong urges to use the bathroom
• Waking frequently at night to urinate
• Difficulty getting to the bathroom in time
• Leaking urine during everyday activities
• Feeling like your bladder has not completely emptied

If these changes are new or interfering with your daily life, talk with your healthcare provider rather than assuming they are simply part of aging.

Urinary Urgency vs. Urinary Frequency

Although they are often talked about together, urinary urgency and urinary frequency aren’t the same thing.

Urinary urgency is the sudden feeling that you need to use the bathroom right away.

Urinary frequency means needing to urinate more often than usual.

Some people experience one or both. Keeping track of when symptoms happen, how often you’re using the bathroom and what you were eating or drinking beforehand may give you useful information to discuss with your healthcare provider.

What Can Affect Bladder Control as You Get Older?

There isn’t one reason bladder habits change with age.

Urinary symptoms can be related to weakened pelvic floor muscles, medications, constipation, diabetes, prostate problems, urinary tract infections (UTIs), mobility challenges and other health conditions.

That’s one reason it’s important to mention bladder changes to your healthcare provider. Understanding what’s contributing to the problem can help determine what may help.

Healthy everyday habits may also support bladder health. Staying appropriately hydrated, paying attention to foods and drinks that seem to worsen symptoms, keeping your bowels regular and strengthening your pelvic floor may all play a role.

Bladder Health Can Affect Your Independence

Bladder problems don’t always stay in the bathroom.

You may start turning down invitations because you’re worried about leakage. Maybe you stop going to a weekly lunch with friends or avoid a grandchild’s soccer game because you aren’t sure where the nearest bathroom will be.

Urinary urgency can also become a safety concern. Rushing to the bathroom, particularly at night, may increase the risk of falls for older adults.

Managing bladder symptoms isn’t only about reducing trips to the bathroom. It’s also about helping you continue doing the things that are important to you.

When Should You Talk to a Healthcare Provider?

A new bladder symptom deserves attention, especially when it appears suddenly.

Talk with your healthcare provider if you notice new or worsening urinary urgency, frequency, leakage, pain or burning with urination or significant changes in how often you need to use the bathroom.

Frequent nighttime urination is also worth discussing. While waking occasionally to use the bathroom can happen, regularly waking multiple times may have an underlying cause that should be evaluated.

Most importantly, don’t dismiss a new bladder problem because of your age. Finding the cause is the first step toward determining what can be done about it.

Helping You Stay Confident at Home

Good bladder health can support something much bigger: your ability to stay active, confident and independent at home.

For people who qualify for skilled home health, Elara Caring provides care in the comfort and familiarity of home. Our skilled home health clinicians can work with patients, families and healthcare providers to support health needs and help patients work toward greater independence.

Elara Caring’s Control is the Goal program provides specialized support for patients experiencing urinary incontinence and related bladder control concerns. Based on each patient’s needs and plan of care, the program can include education, strategies to improve bladder control and support designed to help patients manage symptoms more confidently at home.

Contact your local Elara Caring team to learn more.