Children Grown Up: Teenage and Adolescent Bedwetting

Urinating while asleep, also called nocturnal enuresis, is common in children. It is messy and upsetting, however since it is involuntary, it can only be a sign of a developing body growing adapted to sleeping without a diaper. Bedwetting in teenagers and adolescents, however, is a different matter. It may be worrisome for parents; it can be awkward for older children, and is considered a physical sign of deeper troubles in a teenager or adolescent.

What causes enuresis? To understand it, one needs to know how the kidneys and their related hormones work. One hormone in particular, the antidiuretic hormone, controls the release of water in the body. This antidiuretic hormone participates in a hormone cycle that keeps the bladder from filling before the morning; this in turn ensures that a person will urinate when they wakes up.

This antidiuretic hormone cycle, however, is not completely operational in babies. It will develop in older children; in a few cases, it stabilizes by the end of puberty; in particularly uncommon cases, the cycle is not established at all. These uncommon scenarios are potential causes of adolescent bedwetting.

Another means of controlling urination is via the brain itself, which, for its part, controls the body's capability to awaken prior to urination. In children, this is learned by the brain, as it becomes more and more aware of the body's hormone cycles. This learning process, however, can be damaged by certain factors such as emotional or physical stress. Such stress can be as mild as forcing children to urinate when they are not fully awake. Other contributing factors can be brutal, such as physical or sexual abuse.

If your teenager or adolescent wets his or her bed, you may consider the following treatments and therapies.

The first consideration in adolescent nocturnal enuresis is the body's inability to create the antidiuretic hormone cycle, or the brain's inability to recognize it. Physicians may suggest antidepressants such as Nortriptyline and Amitriptyline, both of which can treat enuresis for three or four months.

Desmopressin, another common enuresisdrug, mimics the role of the antidiuretic hormone, and can be used when diagnosis points to poor hormonal development as the source of the enuresis.

The second consideration when treating adolescent nocturnal enuresis is the brain's inability to both recognize the antidiuretic hormone cycle, and to control it with respect to time and sleep. To address this, psychiatrists advocate training machines such as the bedwetting alarm. This nighttime gadget can help in the conditioning of teenagers to wake up when they first feel moisture, and discover that they must urinate. Ideally, this will lead to the body finally recognizing when the bladder is full, and can decrease adolescent nocturnal enuresis.

The third consideration may be the body's complete inability to control nocturnal enuresis, which is quite rare. In this case, health care professionals advise using diapers or pads, which will help ease the discomfort associated with nocturnal enuresis. Although this may lessen the embarrassment, it will not stop nocturnal enuresis entirely, and additional steps should be taken to eliminate the problem.

The last consideration may be the brain's inability to control urination or recognize the antidiuretic hormone cycle due to mental conditions. Such conditions may be brought about by stress; if this stress stems from physical or sexual abuse, your child may not talk to you about it. Psychiatric care and therapy is advised in such situations; while counseling may not directly target the problem of adolescent nocturnal enuresis, it may give you and your child closure on any issues that are brought to light.

Teenage or adolescent nocturnal enuresis is a treatable disorder, and it needs both patience and consideration on the part of the concerned parent. If your adolescent is wetting his or her bed, take him or her to your healthcare professional, and have the problem diagnosed and treated. In no time, your adolescent will no longer have to deal with the mess and embarrassment connected with his or her condition.

Liz Radisson is the owner of http://www.OurGoodHealth.org OurGoodHealth provides information and resources about a variety of topics, such as enuresis.

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