Imagine you are in an important business meeting that requires your strict attention to financial data or at a special social event that requires you to remain seated for the duration of the entertainment. You went to the bathroom earlier to urinate, but you didn’t seem to completely void all the fluid in your body. When you can’t completely empty your full bladder you are subject to uncomfortable sensations. In many cases this fullness is the result of pelvic muscles that have lost their youthful strength as a result of childbirth or, in the case of men, an enlarged prostate that is slightly squeezing the urinary tract that passes through it. In either case, the result is that the bladder never feels as if it quite relieved of fluid.

There are instances in which an unexplained muscle contraction indicates that the bladder is ready to be emptied of urine when it really isn’t full, and this is known as an overactive bladder. The usual symptoms of this condition include sudden urges to urinate without having ingested large quantities of fluids, the feeling that urination does not empty the bladder as completely as possible and dripping or leaking of fluid after urination is complete.

Very often this feeling of not having expelled all of the urine in the bladder can lead to an uncomfortable feeling of incomplete voiding, thus leaving you with the idea that not all the urine was expelled during the trip to the bathroom.

It is possible that the feeling there is still something in your bladder could be the result of the follow:

You could have a urinary tract infection, a bladder infection, or interstitial cystitis, and if this is the case, or if you have any unusual discharge before or after attempting to void, seek medical help immediately.

The full sensation after using the bathroom to empty your bladder could be painful bladder syndrome, which is usually an undefined condition that is addressed by pain management techniques.

It is a part of the aging process and can be explained by a man’s prostate enlarging as they grow older. There is medication that can help relieve this condition by reducing the prostate and freeing up the flow of urine from the bladder to the urinary tract. In the case where a woman has lost some of the pelvic muscle tone there are some exercises that can restore the tone and thus facilitate full evacuation of the bladder during urination.

The important thing to remember if you are plagued by the sensation of a full bladder that never feels quite empty after urination is that there are solutions. First and foremost, consult your doctor if you continue experiencing the full feeling of not completely voiding during the trip to the bathroom. In mean time the options of cutting out foods from your diet that are overly spicy, avoiding acidic fruits and keeping extra undergarments handy in the event excess liquid for your bladder leaks or spills onto your clothing after you attempt to void your bladder as much as possible. In the end, it is very important to take the condition seriously and not succumb to feelings of hopelessness because there are steps you can take to cope with your fullness.