Bladder Health

Simple steps for bladder health promotion include:

• Drink water
• Avoid caffeine
• Avoid alcohol intake
• Stop smoking
• Eat a high-fiber diet

Bladder Schedule

A regular schedule of bladder emptying can improve urgency and frequency with urination. Voiding too often or too infrequently can cause problems also.

Empty your bladder about every two to four hours. Frequent holding of urine for more than six hours can over-stretch the bladder and increase your risk for urinary tract infections.

Bladder training can be helpful if you have frequency, urgency and stress or urge incontinence.

Bladder training helps the bladder hold more urine by gradually increasing the time between voiding by 30 minutes every week, over six to eight weeks, until you can comfortably void every three to four hours.

Instructions to Reduce Urinary Urgency

When you experience an urge to void:

• Stop and stand very still. Sit down if you can. Don’t move. You need to stay very still to maintain control.
• Contract your pelvic floor muscles quickly several times. Do not relax fully in between contractions.
• Relax the rest of your body. Take a deep breath, then let it out. Try to think of something other than the bathroom. Try to make the urge go away.
• Contract your pelvic muscle three to four times to keep them from leaking. Finally, when you feel the urge go away somewhat, walk normally to the bathroom.

If the urge recurs on the way, stop and repeat. Practice this first at home until you are able to suppress the urge and feel confident. Do not be discouraged if control is not immediate. This will take time and some practice.