Daytime enuresis is involuntary urination during the day, mainly affecting children, but also teenagers and adults. Causes vary by age, with behavioral problems being common in younger children, and medical causes including urinary tract infections and muscle contraction problems. Treatment includes behavioral therapy and medication/surgery for medical and anatomical reasons.
Daytime enuresis, also known as daytime wetting, is a condition where people urinate involuntarily during the day. Daytime wetting is considered daytime enuresis only when the person does it involuntarily and is older than 4 years, the generally accepted age by which urination control is expected. The disorder mainly affects children, but there are also teenagers and adults who suffer from it. Diurnal enuresis is the diurnal counterpart of nocturnal enuresis, or nocturnal wetting, and can be experienced in combination with nocturnal enuresis, although both are rarely experienced.
The causes of daytime enuresis are varied and tend to depend on the age of the sufferer. For younger children, the causes are often behavioral problems. The two most common causes are urinating too infrequently, for example when the child waits too long to urinate and cannot hold it in, and stress-related incontinence, where he becomes wet due to stressful situations.
For 3 to 5 year olds, refusal to urinate when needed is usually the result of not wanting to stop doing an activity. Helping your child understand the need to urinate when needed can combat it. Stress-related incontinence is the result of environmental factors and can be addressed by removing stress from the child’s environment or communicating her concerns to him. Both urge and stress incontinence can be resolved without medication.
There are also medical causes for daytime enuresis, with urinary tract infections and muscle contraction problems being the most common. For children suffering from urinary tract infections, daytime enuresis will be experienced alongside other typical symptoms of urinary tract infections and can normally be resolved by treating the infection with medications prescribed by the doctor. For people who experience involuntary contractions of the detrusor muscle, diurnal enuresis is also common.
This disorder is sometimes associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in girls and can be diagnosed by a doctor. Mediation in combination with behavioral therapies often helps resolve diurnal enuresis caused by muscle contractions. Less common causes of daytime enuresis include constipation, physical malformations, diabetes, and other abnormalities involving the bladder or urethra.
Daytime enuresis is often short-lived and treatable. The most common treatment is behavioral therapy, which cures about 75% of cases. Behavioral therapies range from positive encouragement to repetition exercises. For medical and anatomical reasons, medications and/or surgery may be required. Medications without behavioral therapy are rarely successful in the long run.
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