There are many things that happen to the urological patients of the world. The mystery to me is the urodymnic test. I wonder as I am sitting in a chair, my perineum eye level to the person conducting the test…exactly what are you looking for?
Before my test, a number of leads were placed down south to test my muscle and nerve activity. I know the doctor is studying my muscles, and nerves. As well as measuring my bladder capacity, that are involved in my peeing process. The procedure will look at the health of my kidney, ureters, bladder and urethra. In my case, the reason for the test is because I have urinary retention. In others, it could be for painful urination, urine leakage, recurrent bladder infections, bed wetting, frequent urination, and any number of reasons.
Since I am not a medical professional, I have no idea as to why. It is just a test that most of us, who have seen a urologist, go through. I was told that my urodymnic test is important because in the end it could indicate the cause of my neurogenic bladder. The cause of my neurogenic bladder has been a mystery to me. Is it because of MS, is it because of spinal cord injury? I just don’t know. I have a thick line at the bottom of my graph. I guess it means that my urine does not willingly empty. I spent so many years pushing my urine that the strain on the test really showed. I found that interesting when the doctor shared with me my results. I know this much. The reason we are given this test is to study how the urine is stored and emptied from our bladder.
The test looks for;
• Frequency
• Quality
• Volume and speed of urine voiding
• The flow of urine
• The amount of liquid your bladder can even hold and at what point the urge to pee sets in
• The pressure point the leakage occurs. Does coughing or sneezing effect this?
I would not do this topic justice if I lead you to believe my small definition of this procedure is any way near complete. There were so many types of urodynamic tests that involve many types of equipment, such as x-ray, videos, and ultrasound. I suppose every doctor and every patient needs a different urodymnic procedure.
I just thought I would write about this because it seem to be a “bread and butter” procedure for most good urologists.
More later…
