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Urine retention, or difficukties emptying your bladder, can have many underlying causes. In general, these can be divided into two main groups:
- Flow obstructions
- Weak bladder
Flow obstructions
A flow obstruction means that there is some form of "resistance" in the urethra when you want to urinate. Flow obstructions can be caused by damage to the urethra or urethral stricture, meaning it has become more narrow. This problem can also be caused by an enlarged prostate or difficulties relaxing the urethra's sphincter muscle. This last problem means that you subconsciously contract this muscle, even though you want to let your urine pass through.
Some neurological disorders can lead to deterioration in the cooperation between your bladder muscle and your urethra's sphincter muscle. Normally, your bladder muscle should contract and your sphincter relax when you empty your bladder, but sometimes both your muscles can contract at the same time, resulting in bladder emptying problems.
Weak bladder
The second cause of urine retention can be that the bladder muscle does not have enough strength to completely empty the bladder. This can be due to damage to the nerves that control the bladder muscle. A long-term consequence of problems emptying the bladder is that the bladder muscle thickens. This leads to the bladder not having enough strength for the necessary contraction. A weakened bladder be the result of problems passing urine after narcosis or after certain types of anaesthesia.
Symptoms of retention
The most common symptoms of urine retention are a weak urine flow and that the bladder still contains some urine after you have urinated. You could also experience the discomforts of urine leakage or frequent urgings.
If a problem with emptying your bladder comes suddenly and becomes acute, you can experience pain.
If you have problems emptying your bladder, you should see your doctor. Your urine can easily be infected and be pressed back up the ureters to the kidneys. This can lead to kidney damage.
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