Voiding dysfunction, also known as urinary retention, is the inability to voluntarily pass urine. This can be caused to urethral blockage, benign prostatic hyperplasia, certain medications, condition that affects how well your bladder muscle is able to contract or how well your water pipe muscle is able to relax, neurogenic causes or it may occur after childbirth or surgery.
Acute urinary retention is characterised by the abrupt development of the inability to pass urine and pain, this is a medical emergency.
Chronic urinary retention is the inability to pass urine for longer than 3 months.
Chronic idiopathic urinary retention is urinary retention for 3 months or longer, unexplained by any other urinary, neurological, or gynaecological cause.
Fowler’s syndrome
Fowler’s syndrome is a condition in which women and those assigned female at birth have problems passing urine, due to a difficulty in relaxing the water pipe muscle (urinary sphincter). Fowler’s syndrome is one of the causes of chronic idiopathic urinary retention. This condition causes full or partial urinary retention.
Overactive Pelvic Floor Muscles
The floor of your pelvis is made up of layers of muscle called the pelvic floor. They are like an elastic hammock inside your body. They stretch from the pubic bone at the front, to the base of the spine and the coccyx (tail bone) at the back. The pelvic floor supports the bladder, the cervix and uterus (womb), and the bowel.
Overactive pelvic floor muscles is when the pelvic floor muscles do not relax adequately, when they are supposed to, for example when passing urine or faeces.
The pelvic floor muscles are like other muscles in the body; as such, they can suffer from excess tension. This can cause:
- Pain anywhere in the pelvic region
- Bladder urgency and frequency
- Incontinence
- Problems with bladder emptying
- Pain during or after sex
- Bowel problems.
What can you do?
- Find out about your pelvic floor muscles and how to relax them by reading the NHS Lothian Overactive Pelvic floor muscles leaflet.
- Find out about how to do an effective breathing exercise by reading the NHS Lothian Guide to good breathing leaflet.
- Fowler’s Syndrome UK website at https://fowlerssyndrome.co.uk
- Read more about Fowler’s Syndrome at https://fowlerssyndrome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Patient-Information-Leaflet-Fowlers-syndrome.pdf
- Bladder Health UK website https://bladderhealthuk.org
- Please see further resources in the female pelvic pain section.
