When we analyze our urinary system, you will wonder to see the way it is aligned. You may think of urination as a simple function that happens in your body. But several actions occur while you pee. The part of the detrusor muscle in this so-called simple function is remarkable and inevitable.
If you don’t have a clear idea of this muscle, let me tell you, the walls of your bladder mainly consist of a detrusor muscle. As for a definition, the detrusor muscle is a smooth muscle that is situated around the walls of your bladder which stays relaxed while your bladder stores urine and contracts while you start to piss.
Why Do I Need Detrusor Muscle?
The major function of the detrusor muscle is to shrink the bladder at the time of urination. This will let the bladder push urine out of it through the urethra. While the bladder stores urine, this muscle stays relaxed. The factor behind the flexibility of the bladder is none other than the detrusor muscle. When the bladder is full with urine, the detrusor muscle contraction occurs as the M3 receptors located in the bladder become stretched and aroused. Meanwhile, the internal urethral sphincter gets impeded by parasympathetic fibers to relax the bladder and let it get unloaded.
Another favor the detrusor muscle gives you is preventing the reflux of urine to the kidneys when the bladder is extensive as the ureter passes through it transversely.
What Is It Composed Of?
The Detrusor muscle in your body consists of smooth longitudinal and circular muscle fibers. There are a lot of layers in the detrusor muscle which are arranged in different patterns. We see the layers arranged longitudinally in both of the inner and outer parts of the detrusor muscle, but circular in the middle part.
The Major Issues Related To Detrusor Muscle
The urinary system undergoes several issues. So as the detrusor muscle. Sometimes, the dysfunctioning of the urinary tract may be caused by certain conditions that occurred on the detrusor muscle. Let’s have a look at the possible crises that it confronts.
- Neurogenic Detrusor Overactivity
This is a neurological condition in which increased contractions of the detrusor muscle occur in the bladder. This is due to the damage or disruption of the nerves supplying into it.
Here, even though the brain sends signals to the bladder, the spinal cord gets disrupted which leads to the abnormal functioning of the bladder and urinary incontinence. Usually, pregnant women undergo this state before or after childbirth as the weight in the uterus applies pressure on the bladder. The best cure for this condition is obtained through physiotherapy. It will reduce the symptoms related to neurogenic detrusor overactivity as well as retain the bladder. With this treatment, it is possible to achieve a complete recovery from the condition.
Other causes of neurogenic detrusor overactivity include,
- Trauma
- Weakened pelvic floor
- Weakened bladder control
- Critical neurologic conditions like stroke, multiple sclerosis, and injuries in the spinal cord.
- Detrusor Underactivity
Overactive bladder or detrusor underactivity implies the contraction of the detrusor muscle with insufficient strength and duration. This will let you end up with prolonged bladder emptying and the bladder fails to achieve emptying within a normal span of time. Since the symptoms of this condition lack adequate precision, its diagnosis is difficult.
Causes :
- Diabetic Cystopathy
- Injuries to the spinal cord
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Cerebrovascular accident
- Parkinson’s disease
- Traumatic brain injury
The available treatments to detrusor underactivity are muscarinic agonists, prostaglandin, and surgical methods.
- detrusor Areflexia
This is a typical neurological condition in which the bladder becomes unable to contract. It is caused by various factors like spinal cord injury, fractures, infections, or herniated disc.
There are many other issues that your bladder can bring in, but the root of such issues may be connected to the detrusor muscle, such as bladder cancer.
So many around us are suffering from their inability to control themselves when they urinate. In these people, their bladder dominates the function in which the brain shares signals it. It will result in the leakage of urine in tiny drops in some people/. But for others, it can be much bigger.
In women who underwent natural childbirth, the commission issue that appears is incontinence. It is because the damage occurred in the tissues supporting the urinary system after vaginal birth. In some people, age can be another factor.
Sometimes, this incontinence creates infection and inflammation in the private areas as it remains wet for longer times, creating the breakdown of the skin in that area.
Although various treatments are available to cure incontinence, most of the patients become embarrassed and shy to tell anybody about what they undergo. They even hesitate to share it with their doctors and tolerate it silently. They tend to avoid public places and refuse to step out of their homes because of this. But the thing is, they don’t understand there is nothing to be embarrassed about as they are not alone to face it.