Overactive bladder care in Marietta, Canton, Dallas and Jasper
Overactive bladder (OAB) is a pattern of sudden, hard-to-delay urges to urinate. It can mean many trips a day, waking up at night to go, and sometimes losing urine on the way to the toilet. Plenty of adults have it, and getting older doesn't mean you have to accept it.
What people tend to notice
- An urge that arrives suddenly and is hard to hold
- Going more often than usual, day or night
- Leaking after an urge (urge incontinence)
- Planning outings around where the restrooms are
- Urges set off by sounds, such as running water, or by arriving home
What causes overactive bladder?
Several things can drive OAB symptoms, and more than one can be present: nerve changes after conditions such as stroke or multiple sclerosis, weaker pelvic muscles after childbirth or with age, urinary tract infections, a lot of fluid or caffeine, some medicines, and, less often, stones or growths in the bladder. Finding the cause shapes the plan, which is why the first visit focuses on the pattern of your symptoms rather than jumping to a treatment.
How a visit usually goes
- A conversation about your symptoms, fluids, medicines and health history
- A physical exam, including a prostate check for men when it helps
- A urine test to look for infection or blood
- A bladder diary you keep for a few days at home
- A quick ultrasound check of what's left in the bladder once you've emptied it
- Bladder function testing (urodynamics) or a camera look inside the bladder (cystoscopy) in some cases
Treatment paths our urologists discuss
Plans often start with habits: timing fluids, cutting back on bladder irritants such as caffeine and alcohol, and pelvic floor work. Medicines are an option for many people. When those are not enough, Advanced Urology also offers bladder Botox, given through a scope with no incisions, and sacral nerve stimulation (InterStim), a small implanted device that helps calm bladder signals. Each option has benefits, risks and alternatives that your clinician will go through with you.
PTNS and Altaviva
If you've searched for PTNS (tibial nerve stimulation): Advanced Urology offers Altaviva, an implantable tibial nerve stimulator, not weekly needle PTNS sessions.
Where to be seen
Evaluation and follow-up are available at all four offices on this site. If a procedure is part of your plan, it is scheduled at the Marietta Clinic & Surgery Center on Church Street Extension.
More on this topic from Advanced Urology: overactive bladder
Educational information, not medical advice. Every treatment has risks, benefits and alternatives to discuss with your clinician.
When should you see a urologist about overactive bladder?
It's worth a visit when urges make you plan outings around restrooms, when you wake more than once a night to urinate, or when leaks have started. Fever, back pain or being unable to urinate needs prompt care.
What does overactive bladder feel like day to day?
Most people describe a “gotta go” urge that arrives suddenly and is hard to hold, frequent urination of more than about eight trips a day, getting up two or more times at night, and sometimes leaking before reaching the toilet. Many start mapping every outing around restrooms. Burning, blood in the urine, fever or trouble emptying point to something else and need prompt attention.
Overactive bladder treatment, step by step
- A bladder diary and habit changes: three days of tracking drinks, trips and leaks, then easing caffeine and alcohol, moving fluids earlier in the day and practicing delaying the urge by a few minutes at a time.
- Pelvic floor therapy: therapist-guided muscle training within our practice, including magnetic pelvic floor therapy sessions in a chair while you stay clothed.
- Medicines: daily tablets that calm bladder contractions, chosen with your age and other medicines in mind, because some older bladder drugs can affect memory.
- Bladder Botox: injected through a thin scope in our surgery centers; the effect usually lasts several months before a repeat treatment, and a few people briefly need to drain the bladder with a catheter.
- InterStim: a small implanted stimulator for the sacral nerves, tested first with a trial period.
- Altaviva: an implanted tibial nerve stimulator placed near the ankle, with no ongoing needle sessions.
Dr. Chirag Dave, Dr. Jason Lomboy and Dr. Andy Ostrowski all list overactive bladder care, and our physician assistants and nurse practitioner see patients for it at all four offices. If leaks are your main concern, our bladder leakage and frequent urination guide helps you sort out the type.
What is recovery usually like?
Habit changes and medicines don't involve a procedure. Bladder Botox is given through a scope with no incisions, and InterStim and Altaviva are placed as outpatient procedures. Your clinician will explain what the days afterward usually look like for the option you choose.
More questions we hear
Is overactive bladder just part of getting older?
It becomes more common with age, but it is a medical condition with real treatments. Most people start with a bladder diary, habit changes and pelvic floor therapy, with medicines, Botox or nerve stimulation added if needed.
Should I stop drinking fluids?
Usually not. We help you time fluids and cut back on bladder irritants such as caffeine and alcohol; a bladder diary shows which changes matter for you.
How does bladder Botox work?
Bladder Botox is injected into the bladder wall through a thin scope in our surgery centers, with no cuts or incisions, and Advanced Urology notes it typically takes about 10 minutes. Treatment is repeated about every 6 months.
What is InterStim?
InterStim is sacral nerve stimulation: a small implanted device that helps calm the nerve signals driving urgency. It begins with a trial period so you can see how well it works first.
What is Altaviva?
Altaviva is a tiny device implanted beside the ankle that stimulates the tibial nerve to calm overactive bladder signals, used when habits and medicines fall short. Once placed, it works in the background without repeated office sessions.
Can men have overactive bladder?
Yes. In men, an enlarged prostate can cause similar symptoms, so both are checked at the first visit.
Which articles go deeper on overactive bladder?
These short reads answer questions patients often bring to us.
- What is InterStim (sacral nerve stimulation)?
- Bladder pills not enough? Questions to ask about next steps
- Botox vs InterStim vs Altaviva: how to choose
- Can sleep apnea make you pee at night?
- InterStim for OAB: will I still need medications?
- Can diabetes cause frequent urination at night?
- What treatments help nocturia?
- InterStim for Urinary Retention: who is a candidate?
- InterStim trial: how it works
- InterStim for OAB: is it MRI-compatible?
All 10 articles on overactive bladder and night-time urination
Clinicians whose Advanced Urology profiles list this area: Chirag Dave, MD, Jason Lomboy, MD, Andy Ostrowski, MD, Daniel Roberson, PA-C, Amanda Boulos, PA-C, Anna Flint Todd, PA-C, Ionela Turcin, PA-C, Britany Howard, FNP.
Videos from Advanced Urology
Videos play here from Advanced Urology’s YouTube channel, using YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode.
Noticing symptoms? Our plain-language guide, Bladder leakage or frequent urination? Start by noticing when it happens, explains what to do next.
Noticing symptoms? Our plain-language guide, Weak urine stream, trouble urinating or up at night: is it your prostate?, explains what to do next.
Bowel leakage and bowel control
Accidental bowel leakage often shows up alongside bladder symptoms. These guides cover causes, warning signs and treatment at our four offices:
Let's sort this out together. Our offices in Marietta, Canton, Dallas and Jasper share one phone line and one caring team.