Summer is rapidly approaching, bringing with it thoughts of road trips or other exciting vacation possibilities. For Anne Collins and others who suffer from an overactive bladder, though, road trips mean countless stops to use the restroom.

“I knew every rest area between here and Mississippi,” said Collins. “I could not drink anything. I couldn’t go anywhere because if I did, I would have a problem.”



Overactive bladder is not a disease, but rather the name for a group of urinary symptoms that includes a frequent urge to urinate and waking up at night to urinate. It most commonly occurs in women who have undergone childbirth, a hysterectomy or various pelvic surgeries.

“It’s kind of a catch-all term for people that can’t make it to the bathroom or they go way too much during the day and it affects the quality of life,” said CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs urologist Dr. Seth Hollenbach, who recently received a Center of Excellence award for overactive bladder care.

Symptoms of an overactive bladder can lead to anxiety, depression and interrupted sleep cycles, but there is a solution in the form of the InterStim Neurostimulator, which stimulates the nerve that helps control the bladder. Collins underwent the procedure with Dr. Hollenbach 10 years ago and the results have been life changing.

“My primary physician told me, ‘I got the perfect person and you will fall in love with him,’” she said. “That was the truth.”

Dr. Hollenbach and the team of specialists at the CHI St. Vincent Urology Clinic in Hot Springs help patients with complications and problems such as recurrent urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, overactive bladder and more. To learn more, visit: chistvincent.com/urology