Urinating while asleep, or bedwetting, is common in children. It is messy and bothersome, but as it is involuntary, it can only be a sign of a developing body growing adapted to sleeping without diapers. Bedwetting in teenagers and adolescents, however, is a different matter. It may be worrisome for parents; it can be embarrassing for older children, and is considered a bodily symptom of deeper troubles in a teenager or adolescent.

What causes enuresis? To understand it, one has to know how the kidneys and their related hormones work together. One hormone in particular, the antidiuretic hormone, controls the body's release of water. This antidiuretic hormone is involved with a hormone cycle that prevents the bladder from becoming full before morning; this in turn ensures that a person will urinate when he wakes up.

This antidiuretic hormone cycle, however, is not completely operational in babies. It develops as children age; in some cases, it will be stable by the end of puberty; in very rare cases, the cycle is not established at all. These rare scenarios are a potential cause of adolescent bedwetting.

Another way to control urination is through the brain itself, which, for its part, controls the body's ability to wake before urination. In children, this is learned by the brain, as it becomes more and more aware of the body's hormonal 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 more damaging, such as physical or sexual abuse.

If your teenager or adolescent wets their, you might want to consider the following treatments and therapies.

The first consideration in adolescent nocturnal enuresis is the body's incapacity to develop the antidiuretic hormone cycle, or the brain's incapacity to identify it. Your doctor may recommend antidepressants such as Nortriptyline and Amitriptyline, both of which can treat enuresis for three or four months.

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

The second consideration when treating adolescent nocturnal enuresis is the brain's incapacity to both recognize the antidiuretic hormone cycle, and to manage it with respect to time and sleep. To address this, psychiatrists recommend training machines such as the bedwetting alarm. This nocturnal gadget can aid adolescents to wake up when they first feel moisture, and that they must urinate. Ideally, this will lead to the body finally being able to identify when the bladder is full, and can curb adolescent nocturnal enuresis.

The third consideration could be the body's total incapacity to control nocturnal enuresis, which is relatively rare. In this case, health care professionals recommend 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 stop it.

The last consideration could be the brain's incapacity to control urination or identify the antidiuretic hormone cycle because of emotional issues. Such issues 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 recommended in these situations; although treatment may not directly target the problem of adolescent nocturnal enuresis, it may give you and your child closure on any problems 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 teenager 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 teenager will nocturnal enuresis.