Written by Keri Wiginton
Medically Reviewed by Nazia Q Bandukwala, DO on August 10, 2024

Prepare for your first doctor’s visit on OAB

Meet Your Guide
photo of portrait
Debbie Cheskiewicz
Advocate

After a year of urinary accidents, Debbie Cheskiewicz of New York decided not to put her bladder health on the back burner anymore. Although overactive bladder (OAB) is a sensitive subject, she learned to think of it as something that’s just like any other condition. “Using pads or underwear for OAB is just part of life for people,” she says. She tried a couple of medications before finding one without bothersome side effects. And she also does exercises to strengthen her pelvic floor muscles.

Show Sources

SOURCES:

Debbie Cheskiewicz, Lockport, NY. 

Leslie M. Rickey, MD, MPH, associate professor of urology and of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences, Yale School of Medicine. 

Urology Care Foundation: “Overactive Bladder (OAB).” 

Cleveland Clinic: “Pregnancy and Bladder Control.” 

Mayo Clinic: “Overactive Bladder.”

National Multiple Sclerosis Society: “Bladder Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis.” 

Therapeutic Advances in Urology: “Update on the management of overactive bladder.” 

Current Bladder Dysfunction Reports: “The Burden of Overactive Bladder on US Public Health.” 

Neurourology and Urodynamics: “Health disparities and access to advanced therapy for overactive bladder.” 

Reviews in Urology: “Diagnosis of Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome in Patients With Overactive Bladder Symptoms.”

Journal of Urology: “Racial differences in urinary incontinence prevalence, overactive bladder, and associated bother among men: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.”   

UW Health: “MyChart: Manage your healthcare from anywhere.” 

Voices for PFD: “What is a Urogynecologist?”

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