What Causes Bladder Spasms?

Interstitial Cystitis

Interstitial cystitis or painful bladder syndrome is a condition that affects the bladder, causing the patient to feel bladder pressure, bladder pain, and pelvic pain when no infection is present. In a healthy individual, the bladder expands as it fills with urine, and when full it tells the brain through the pelvic nerves to urinate. This process is what makes a healthy individual feel the actual urge to urinate. This process malfunctions in patients affected by interstitial cystitis. This malfunction causes them to feel the need to urinate more frequently and have a smaller output then healthy individuals. Often times, the patient will have intense feelings of urgency on a frequent basis. Affected individuals may often strain to empty their bladder due to this condition because what they feel does not align with how much urine is present in the bladder. The pressure on the bladder from severe straining can easily cause it to contract involuntarily. Bladder spasms are an extremely common complication in interstitial cystitis patients.

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Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease, meaning the patient's immune system attacks the protective myelin sheath that covers the nerves. It is also a progressive disease that eventually becomes extremely debilitating to affected individuals. The myelin sheath covering the nerves serves as a protective fatty layer that ensures the smooth transmission of signals between the brain and nerves around the body. When the immune system of multiple sclerosis patients attacks the myelin sheath, the protective covering becomes damaged and may severely disintegrate. Without adequate myelin sheathing, the brain is often not able to correctly communicate with the pelvic nerves. The pelvic nerves are responsible for telling the bladder what to do and when to do it. When the signals to the bladder from the brain are impaired or disrupted, the bladder will relax when it shouldn't, contract inappropriately, and the sphincter will not function normally to hold in urine. When the impaired nerve signals cause the bladder to abnormally contract, bladder spasms occur.

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