If you suffer from any type of incontinence, bladder training can be a very helpful tool to manage your symptoms. As a matter of fact, it can cut your accidental leakage incidents by over half. Bladder training combines controlling urinary urges and building up your bladder volume. It is a great way for you to get back in tune with your body.
To begin training your bladder, you must first understand it, and the best way to do this is to monitor its behavior. Start by keeping a log of what you drink, when you have to urinate, if you have any leakage, and what you were doing when the urinary leakage occurs. Record your regular behavior for about a week.
At this point you will have a pretty good picture of how your body is functioning now. So if you go to the bathroom about every hour, but you have leakage every forty-five minutes, then begin your bladder retraining by going to the bathroom every half-hour. If you go to the bathroom every two and a half hours with leakage occurring at two hours, then begin your bladder training by going to the bathroom every other hour.
Once you have determined your starting point, then you will want to always go to the bathroom right when you wake up and right before going to sleep. Make sure you stick to your schedule. If your schedule is to urinate every two hours, then make sure that you go to the bathroom every two hours whether you think that you need to or not. By sticking to your schedule, you will keep your bladder from getting too full and leaking. If you have to urinate before you are scheduled to, try to wait. Sometimes doing pelvic floor contractions can help to quiet the urge to go.
When you are sleeping, you do not need to follow your bathroom schedule, but continue keeping your bladder log or bladder diary. As you gain control over your bladder, you will begin to experience fewer problems with leakage, so you will know that your training is successful.
As you notice that you can easily hold your bladder in between scheduled bathroom breaks, it is time to begin increasing the span between bathroom visits. You will want to stretch the time by a half-hour until you are going to the bathroom about once every three to four hours. As you are doing this, try to keep your fluid intake consistent, and in no time at all you will find that you are well on your way to managing your incontinence by following your bladder training techniques.
And as you are working on retraining your bladder, incontinence pants can protect clothing and furniture, and they offer protection from skin irritation. DryForLife supplies incontinence products, which are available online.
Further Incontinence Articles
- Infection as a Cause of Bladder Incontinence
- Definitions of Incontinence
- Childbirth and Incontinence in Women
- Making Sense of Mixed Urinary Incontinence
- Looking at Urinary Incontinence in General Terms
Disclaimer - The research, clinical material and advice provided on this website is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for medical treatment, nor an alternative to medical advice. Any action taken in response to the information given on this website is at the reader's own discretion. Readers should always consult their own Doctor in all health matters. Please read our Terms and conditions. Copyright ©2003-2009 DryForLife®
Tags: bladder retraining, Incontinence pants, urinary leakage
