Kegel exercises strengthen the muscles you use to start and stop the flow of urine. When you just can't hold it any longer, use the bathroom, but go again at your next scheduled void time to stay on your bladder retraining schedule. If you're feeling a strong need to go, try distracting yourself by counting backwards from 100 to one or practicing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing. Then gradually increase the amount of time by 10 minutes, until you can last for at least three to four hours without having to go to the bathroom. When you feel the urge to urinate, hold it for another five minutes or so. Gradually increase the amount of time between bathroom breaks.ĭelay urination. Use the bathroom at each scheduled visit, regardless of whether you actually feel the urge to go. For example, if you're going to the bathroom every hour, schedule bathroom visits at every one hour, 15 minutes. Determine how often you're going to the bathroom based on your diary entries. Using your diary as a guide, you'll use the following techniques to help you gain more control over urination. In your bathroom diary, you'll write down every time you have the urge to go, as well as when you leak. The Bladder Retraining Techniqueīefore you begin bladder control training, your doctor will probably ask you to keep a diary. Overflow incontinence: A problem emptying the bladder completely that leads to urine leakage.īladder retraining may also be used to treat bed-wetting in children.Mixed incontinence: A combination of stress and urge incontinence.You may not always be able to reach the toilet in time. Urge incontinence: You feel a sudden, strong urge to go to the bathroom because your bladder contracts even when it's not full.Stress incontinence: Sudden pressure on your abdomen (such as from a cough, sneeze, or laugh) causes you to accidentally lose urine.Different types of urinary incontinence exist, including: Incontinence is most common in women, especially after childbirth and menopause. Bladder control training is typically used to treat urinary incontinence, the involuntary loss of urine. The decision to try bladder training depends on what's causing the problem. Bladder control training gradually teaches you to hold in urine for longer and longer periods of time to prevent emergencies and leaks. Often the first treatment doctors recommend for bladder control problems is bladder retraining, a type of behavioral therapy that helps you regain control over urination.

Yet having that discussion can help you find a solution to the problem and get you back out into the world again. The fear of leaking while shopping or out with friends can be embarrassing enough to make you stay home.īladder control problems are something most people are reluctant to talk about, even with their doctors. You can get to the point where you are scheduling your entire life around the availability of a bathroom. When you have trouble controlling your bladder, you never know when you're going to feel the sudden, uncontrollable urge to go.

Endurance catheter