Atonic Bladder

Atonic bladder or flaccid bladder is a condition where the bladder would simply not be able empty itself. Would you imagine the feelings of a constantly full bladder that is about to burst any moment? That’s exactly how it feels.

Not only is it agonizing since the bladder is always full to the brim all day long all the time, atonic bladder also increases the risk of other diseases or health problems such as a urinary tract infection, or UTI for short. There are many causes as to why the bladder is unable to empty itself.

Among some of the more common reasons are prostate enlargement problems, bladder stones, injury to the spinal cord as well as to the nervous system which controls the bladder. Damage to the nervous system causes the brain to not able to send the right signal to the bladder, and as the brain loses control of the bladder, atonic bladder symptoms appears.

Prostate enlargement which affects the men on the other hand causes blockage to the bladder outlet. Since the prostate is located just beneath the bladder, around the bladder neck region, the enlargement of this prostate may completely obstruct or shut the urine flow from the bladder into the urethra.

As urine cannot be drained, it stays in the bladder. As more and more urine accumulates, the bladder gradually becomes distended and a distended bladder can lead to pain from the build up internal pressure in the bladder. Ultimately this may lead to damage to the bladder wall as the full bladder gets over stretched.

Atonic Bladder

To cure this bladder problem, the solution is typically aimed at easing the pressure within the bladder. This can be accomplished by draining the urine out of the bladder. Therefore, catheterization is an option and this may either be performed by a medical practitioner or by self-catheterizationat home.

There are also other methods of removing the urine out of the bladder such as through manually applying pressure by hand onto the abdomen area. As external pressure gets applied onto the bladder, this in turn helps increase the pressure within the bladder so that when the bladder pressure is greater than the pressure of the obstructed outlet.

When this happens, urine gets discharged. However if none of these methods work, more invasive atonic bladder treatments may be required and these include surgery to help alleviate the bladder issue. Hence, if your bladder is obstructed, it is important to seek medical help immediately before more damage is done.