Causes of Bed Wetting in Teenagers

The causes of bed wetting in teenagers are typically different from those experienced as a child and long term bed wetting into adolescence is more common than you may think.

As many as 1 out of every 100 teenagers still suffer from bed wetting or occasional bed wetting. Many children do grow out of bed wetting as they gain control of their bladder muscles and urine production during the night. The causes of bed wetting in teenagers are therefore different to the ones that can be grown out of.

One study has shown that hormonal changes can be one of the causes of bed wetting in teenagers. The hormonal balance can affect more specifically the balance of ADH in the body meaning the teenager once again cannot control the production of urine during the night. It may also be that the bladder is smaller than most teens so cannot hold as much fluid. Both of these causes of bed wetting in teenagers have been traced to genetics which can also be a contribution to child bed wetting. It has been found that a child is 40% more likely to suffer from bed wetting incidents if a parent did and up to 70% likely if both parents did. It is likely that if one or both of these parents suffered from bed wetting up to their teenage years then the child will also suffer from teenage bed wetting. While the causes of bed wetting in teenagers depend on the individual it is clear that it is predominantly a hereditary condition.